April 2010: CIO Council report: NetGeneration

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Today’s federal IT workers have a tremendous opportunity to participate in a new era of public service. The American people deserve and expect a government that is efficient, accountable, and fully worthy of their trust. The Administration is committed to leveraging the power of technology to deliver results. VIVEK KUNDRA FEDERAL CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER AND DIRECTOR, CIO COUNCIL

The information age provides us opportunities to collaborate in ways we never dreamed possible. But the promise of the future rests firmly in the hands, hearts, and minds of our workforce. It is imperative that the Federal Government attract and retain the “best and the brightest” of the workforce of the future – the “Net Generation.” And this will only happen if we are able to provide our workforce with access to information age tools and capabilities, as well as providing them with an environment that unleashes and nurtures the fire of their innovation and creativity. DAVID M. WENNERGREN DEPUTY CIO, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND VICE-CHAIR, CIO COUNCIL

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introduction The increasingly senior federal workforce, and their anticipated retirement from federal service, continues to top the list of human capital concerns across government. The Federal Government needs the right mix of high performing information technology (IT) personnel, with the skills necessary to meet both current and future mission requirements. As the Baby Boomers in the federal IT workforce retire, many of their replacements will come from a new, younger generation of workers, the “Net Generation,” so-named by Don Tapscott in his 1997 book, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation (and its 2008 sequel, Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World), for being the first generation to have lifelong exposure to the Internet. This large, incoming generational wave is expected to bring a variety of new dynamics to the federal workplace. In order to manage the changing generational mix effectively, managers will need to reconcile the distinct, and sometimes conflicting, expectations, needs, and life experiences of their workforce and to establish a context for success that allows the strengths of each generation to shine. Capturing the knowledge of the current workforce, and bracing for the institutional changes resulting from both a changing workforce and rapidly evolving technology, will present wide-ranging challenges for Chief Information Officers who must fulfill specific responsibilities under United States Code (USC) 11315(c)(3) (Clinger-Cohen Act); 44 USC 3506(b)(5) (Paperwork Reduction Act); 44 USC 3501, Section 209, IT Workforce Development (E-Government Act); 44 USC 3544(a)(4), Information Security (E-Government Act); and OMB A-130 Circular regarding the assessment, management, and training of the federal IT workforce. Accordingly, the Federal Chief Information Officers Council initiated a review of the baseline federal IT workforce, current IT workforce management practices, and collaborated with nGenera Insight (formerly New Paradigm), an innovator in generational thought research, to use and expand their research on the Net Generation, the workforce of the future. The Office of the Department of Defense Deputy Chief Information Officer has spearheaded this effort for the Council.

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table of contents

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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Appendices

Defining the Federal IT Workforce Current Workforce Environment Forecast of Future Labor Supply and Demand Strategic Workforce Planning Norms and Characteristics of the Net Generation Opportunities and Challenges of a Multi-Generational Workforce Management and Employee Engagement Professional Development and Career Management Shaping the Workplace Through Web 2.0 Technologies Workforce Compensation, Benefits, and Flexibilities Work and Life Balance Conclusion A through H

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defining the federal IT workforce During the past ten years, information technology has become integral to almost every job performed within the Federal Government. The automation of functions and services once performed manually, and the increasing requirement for integrated information, systems, and technologies, have broadened the scope of functions and equipment that comprise the definition of information technology (IT), and the range of occupational series that can be considered as part of the federal civilian IT workforce community. As defined in title 40 of the United States Code, with respect to an executive agency in the Federal Government, IT is “any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment used in the automatic acquisition, storage, analysis, evaluation, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information by the executive agency, if the equipment is used by the executive agency directly or is used by a contractor under a contract with the executive agency that requires the use of that equipment or of that equipment to a significant extent in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product. [This] includes computers, ancillary equipment (including imaging peripherals, input, output, and storage devices necessary for security and surveillance), peripheral equipment designed to be controlled by the central processing unit of a computer, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources; but does not include any equipment acquired by a federal 1 contractor incidental to a federal contract.”

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Series

Employee Title

IT Operations and Information Resources Management

0332 0335 1410 1411 1412 1420 1421 2210

Computer Operator Computer Technician Librarian Library Technician Technical Information Specialist Archivist Archivist Technician IT Specialist

Engineering and Scientific

0854 0855 0856 1550

Computer Engineer Electronics Engineer Electronics Technician Computer Scientist

Communications

0390 0391 0392 0394

Telecommunications Equipment Operator Telecommunications Specialist Telecommunications Technician Communications Technician

Table 1.1 Federal Civilian IT Workforce

The federal civilian IT workforce includes government personnel across all federal agencies who provide workforce capabilities required to: • Plan, budget, manipulate, control, and archive information throughout its life cycle. • Develop, acquire, implement, evaluate, maintain, and retire information, information systems, and information technology, and the technology to transmit information. • Develop the policies and procedures required for information resources management. • Apply the measures that protect and defend information and information systems. Occupational series that may be included in the federal civilian IT workforce are listed in Table 1.1; however, the definition of the IT workforce community may vary by agency, according to each agency’s mission and the nature of its work. The Information Security or Information Assurance (IA) workforce is a subset of the overall IT workforce; individual IA members may be resident in many series, but are predominantly in several specialty areas within the 2210 or IT Management series. Work is ongoing to identify the impact of federal cyber initiatives on the IT workforce landscape.

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{ 1997

Developing the strategies and actions to recruit, develop, and maintain a best-inclass professional IT workforce has been a Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council priority since the establishment of the Federal IT Workforce Committee in 1999. Over the past decade, we have witnessed tremendous growth and evolution within the federal civilian IT workforce. That evolution’s going to continue, and so will the work of the Committee. Web 2.0 transformation will need a Talent 2.0 workforce with the right skills and an innovative, collaborative mindset.

JANET L. BARNES CO-CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL CIO COUNCIL IT WORKFORCE COMMITTEE (2003–2009)

{

Computer Specialists/ IT Specialists

Computer Scientists

Computer Engineers

Electronics Engineers

Telecom Specialists

55,301

3,204

2,400

23,566

6,904

68,626

5,404

4,203

19,302

5,787

24%

69%

75%

-18%

-16%

2

2008 Percent Change

Table 1.2 Major Federal IT Population Trend

The focus of this report, commissioned by the Federal CIO Council, is on selected employees from the larger communities within the federal civilian IT workforce, namely, IT Specialists, Computer Scientists, Computer Engineers, Electronics Engineers, and Telecommunications Specialists. Together, these communities totaled 103,322 personnel in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. For the purpose of this report, these five series will be known as the “Major Federal IT Population” or “Major Federal IT Community.” Table 1.2 provides the aggregate populations of these series, comparing FY2008 figures from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) online tool, FedScope, against published FY1997 OPM data. The distribution of FY2008 employees by Federal CIO Council member organizations is contained in Appendix A.

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current workforce environment Demographically, the federal civilian IT workforce spans five generations: the G.I. Generation, born before 1925; the Silent Generation or “Greatest Generation,” born 1925 to 1945; the Baby Boom Generation, born 1946 to 1964; Generation X (or Gen X), born 1965 to 1977; and the Net Generation (also called Generation Y or the Millennials), born between 1978 and 1994 (or even as late as the year 2000, depending on the demographic study). For the purposes of this report, the above definitions apply, however, individual tables and charts may differ slightly, depending on how the obtainable federal data was aggregated.

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As Figure 2.1 illustrates, there are federal civilian IT workers located in every state in the Union. Additionally, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, there were 244 individuals in the U.S. territories and 1,727 employed in foreign countries who were part of the Major Federal IT Population.1 Thirty-four percent of the Major Federal IT Population works in the Maryland/Virginia/District of Columbia region. Figure 2.2 provides a generational view of the Major Federal IT Population. The “Pre-Baby Boom” includes two generations, the G.I. Generation and the Silent or “Greatest Generation.” The Greatest Generation are age 64 to 84. They are not a large segment of the workforce population, but their knowledge is valued. Additionally, there was a very small cadre of the G.I. Generation, aged 85 and above, in the Major Federal IT Population in FY2008, 14 individuals in total.

The Boomers, by far the largest segment of the IT workforce, span from age 45 to 63. In 2008, the first wave of the U.S. Baby Boomers became eligible for social security benefits. As more of these individuals become eligible to retire, there is great potential for a cascade of retirements over the next decade or more, from both the general U.S. population and the Federal Government. This will have many impacts: the need for additional recruiting and creative retention incentives; additional training and education requirements; and, many opportunities for advancement. Given this scenario, succession planning should play a fundamental role within every IT organization.

200 or less 201–500 501 – 1,000 1,001 – 2,500 2,501 – 4,000 4,001 – 6,500

Alaska

6,501 – 9,000

Hawaii

9,001 and higher

District of Columbia

Figure 2.1 FY2008 Geographic Distribution of the Major Federal IT Population

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The younger generations, Generation X and the Net Generation, range from 17 to 44 in age in the federal IT workforce. This entire age range is significantly under-represented in government when compared against the general census population. Generation X, as a group, has been less inclined to public service careers. Additionally, the 1990s, the period when many Gen X typically might have entered public service, was a decade of large-scale downsizing within the Federal Government. Almost 400,000 individuals were

culled from the civil service ranks, largely through a combination of attrition, incentives for early retirement, and hiring freezes. The Net Generation (or “Net-Gen”), so-named due to their deep immersion with technology and use of the Internet, is the youngest generation in the workforce. Their representation in the federal IT workforce is influenced by their specific occupations and the current grade structure, and also may be adversely affected by the challenges associated with attracting and recruiting them to federal service.

47 Year Olds - 4,463 44 Year Olds - 4,077

28 Year Olds - 1,450

55 Year Olds - 3,480

64 Year Olds - 722 Net Generation Ages 17–31 10% - 10,081

Generation X Ages 32–44 28% - 28,455

Baby Boom Ages 45–63 60% - 61,918

Pre-Baby Boom Ages 64–91 3% - 2,868

Figure 2.2 FY2008 Generational Distribution of the Major Federal IT Population

Source: OPM September 2008 103,322 personnel

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2210 COMMUNITY The 2210 series is a fairly new occupational series, established in 2001, and largely populated through a multi-year migration of individuals from the former Computer Specialist (0334) series which was not completed until FY2006. Within the 2210 community are several specialty areas: Applications Software, Customer Support, Data Management, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, Internet, IT Project Management, Network Services, Operating Systems, Policy and Planning, Systems Administration, and Systems Analysis. A breakdown by specialty area is not available from federal databases, however, separate surveys of federal IT personnel, the IT Workforce Capability Assessment, conducted in 2004 and 2006, did provide data for the 2210 specialty areas and eight additional areas of interest such as Records Management and Privacy (see www.cio.gov). Within the IT Management community reside three federally-designated mission critical occupations: Enterprise Architecture, IT Project Management, and Information Security. IT Specialists are employed by all Cabinet-level agencies and large independent agencies, as well as most medium independent agencies. From FY1997– FY2008, and as the community evolved from Computer Specialists to IT Specialists, there was a 24% growth in this sector of the IT workforce, with most agencies gradually increasing their number of 2210 series employees. At the end of FY2008, there were 68,626 individuals in this community as shown in Figure 2.3. Seventy-five percent of the 2210 community was under the General Schedule (GS) or a related pay plan in FY2007, with a median pay grade of GS-12. The community has grown its number of senior grade managers over time, as the scope of IT Management duties has become more complex (see Figure 2.4). Additionally, the average age of workers has increased. The end result is a large, retirement-eligible population which is impacting most grade levels. New hires typically make up the majority of annual 2210 accessions, with agency transfers ranging between 12% –16% during FY2004–FY2008 (Figure 2.5). The age range of hires has skewed older, with annual hiring (Figure 2.6) contributing significantly to the generational imbalance within the 2210 series. The Net Generation has the highest turnover rate within the 2210 community. FY2008 turnover for Net-Gen employees within the 2210 community was 9%, with 271 individuals leaving federal service; an additional 65 employees transferred to other agencies, creating a total “churn” of 11.1% amongst the Net-Geners. Generation X employees were the most stable, with a

10

2004 64,737 2005 65,822 2006 67,814 2007 67,210 2008 68,626

Figure 2.3 2210 Community: Fiscal Year End Strength

GS-5

1997 2007

201 199

GS-7

1997 2007

981 921

GS-9

1997 2007

4,216 4,404

GS-11

1997 2007

10,119 10,297

GS-12

1997 2007

19,137 19,112

GS-13

1997 2007

11,004 15,752

GS-14

1997 2007

3,500 6,682

GS-15

1997 2007

961 2,131

Other

1997 2007

1,729 7,705

Figure 2.4 2210 Community: Grade Distribution Comparison of General Schedule and Related Grade Workforce

New Hire

2004

3,232

530

2005

3,646

621

2006

3,424

744

2007

3,734

730

2008

5,001

715

Agency Transfer-in

Figure 2.5 2210 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions

Under 20

6

7

6

11

10

2004

20–24

314

300

214

217

279

2005

25–29

392

485

498

473

684

2006

30–34

515

584

579

645

794

2007

35–39

614

684

660

704

872

2008

40–44

782

842

846

861 1,088

45–49

549

685

666

696

937

50–54

341

391

402

510

601

55–59

182

231

221

243

329

60–64

50

50

63

86

102

65+

14

8

12

18

20

Figure 2.6 2210 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions by Age Group

3.2% turnover rate. Overall series turnover was 7% for FY2008. Retirements form the bulk of annual losses from the 2210 community, followed by individuals quitting federal service (Figure 2.7). In general, IT Management personnel quitting federal service or transferring within the Federal Government have been rising as a percentage of overall separations, while retirements have declined in recent years. In part, the reason for the decline in retirements can be attributed to fewer early retirees from this community. The number of early retirements in a community is directly influenced by the availability of this retirement authority which is controlled by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and agency policy. When agencies “turn on the spigot” of the early retirement authority, total retirements typically increase in the short term as more people retire before their normal eligibility date. Since FY2003, early retirements have declined from 24% –10% of all retirements, thus influencing the total number of retirements. Another, and more recent factor influencing retirement losses, has been the downturn in the economy. The average length of service for voluntary retirees has remained steady at 31 years of service (see Appendix B for additional information on separations and turnover rates for the 2210 community). Forty-nine percent of FY2008 retirements came from the GS-9 to GS-12/related pay scale (Figure 2.8), indicating excellent opportunities for hiring and advancement within the mid-grade levels. With structured workforce planning, agencies can create targeted internship programs or laddered hiring opportunities through which they can groom and grow a more generationally-balanced workforce. This will take time

Retirement 2,282

Quit 961

Termination 388 Death 115 RIF/Other 23

Figure 2.7 2210 Community: FY2008 Separations from Federal Service

Other 379 GS-15

87

GS-14 211 GS-13 493 GS-12 681 GS-11 313 GS-9 118

Figure 2.8 2210 Community: FY2008 Retirement Losses from General Schedule and Related Grade Workforce

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since the Net Generation comprised less than 5% of the 2210 community in FY2008. Without targeted hiring, it will be difficult to strategically grow this segment of the population. Some agencies do have programs which groom younger individuals and, as Figure 2.9 demonstrates, there is a small percentage of Net-Geners who have already advanced as high as GS-12/13. In spite of the size of the IT Management community, and its designation as a critical community, few individuals were targeted with funded recruitment and retention tools within this community in 2007. Less than 3% of new 2210 hires (108 of 3,734 individuals) received a recruitment bonus; 52 personnel received relocation bonuses; and 831 received retention bonuses. Additionally, 218 FY2007 recipients and 156 Calender Year (CY) 2008 recipients received student loan repayment benefits (which were either new or recurring awards). Women comprised 36% of the 2210 community in FY2008, whereas they were 39% of the 0334 series in FY1997. FY2008 hiring and loss patterns provide a good demonstration for why female representation in this community has decreased. While women were 35% of the 2210 community’s separations from federal service in FY2008, they were only 24% of new hires, contributing to a net loss of 745 women over the past two years. Within the community, women’s representativeness increases generationally, peaking at 39% of the Baby Boomer IT Specialists. With the small percentage of Net-Geners in this community, this means that Net-Gen

women will have fewer female peers, but a larger potential community of more senior female mentors. Minorities made up 31% of federal IT Specialists in FY2008 (Figure 2.10), with African-Americans comprising 18% of the community, Asians 7%, and Hispanic/ Latinos 4%. Other racial/ethnic groups made up the remaining two percent. When compared with the majority/white population, Asians had greater representation at GS-13/14, while Hispanics had greater representation at GS-11 and less representation at GS-13/14. Given that this community typically hires at all age/grade levels, there is opportunity to increase representativeness through both hiring and professional development programs. Other

428

3,937

9,470

GS-15

5

480

1,679

GS-14

36

1,901

4,474

GS-13

275

4,357

9,967

GS-12

685

4,813 11,315

GS-11

649

3,207

5,729

GS-9

617

1,475

1,967

Net-Gen

GS-7

315

323

266

Gen X

GS-5

104

71

51

Figure 2.9 2210 Community: FY2008 Generations by Pay Grade

White Hispanic/Latino

3,348 340

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

176

Native American/Alaskan Native

874

Asian

12

47,197

Multi-Racial/Other

Black/African-American

Figure 2.10 2210 Community: FY2008 Race/Ethnicity

Boomer +

12,098 4,593

1550 COMMUNITY The 1550 series (Figure 2.11), is one of the smaller communities within the Major Federal IT Community. This community has experienced significant growth over the past decade, increasing over two thirds in size since FY1997. Even as the overall growth continues, some organizations have decreased their number of Computer Scientists, most notably, the Department of Commerce (whose 1550 population declined 32% in FY2007). The 1550 series had 5,404 employees at the end of FY2008. One or more Computer Scientists are employed by most Cabinet-level agencies, with the exception of the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Few other organizations, outside of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Departments of Commerce, Transportation, and Health and Human Services (HHS), employ significant numbers; the Department of Defense (DoD) employs over 80% of all federal Computer Scientists. Seventy percent of the community was part of the General Schedule or a related pay plan in FY2008. Within this segment of the population, there has been growth in the senior pay grades over time, as shown in Figure 2.12. Further examination of those in alternative pay plans might yield additional information on overall pay structure and seniority. The median pay grade within the GS/Related Schedule community is GS-13. This community is more youthful than their IT Management counterparts, with their Net-Gen (17%) and Gen X (34%) personnel comprising over half of their total population. Hiring patterns (Figure 2.13)

Under 20

4

6

3

1

1

20–24

117

85

89

83

83

25–29

49

64

71

88

96

30–34

44

33

44

50

63

35–39

39

28

35

46

58

40–44

36

54

40

42

62

45–49

21

29

36

52

52

50–54

14

14

27

22

38

55–59

14

7

13

20

21

60–64

2

6

6

5

6

65+

2

1

0

1

5

2004

4,664

2005

5,103

2006

5,195

2007

5,216

2008

5,404

Figure 2.11 1550 Community: Fiscal Year End Strength

GS-5

1997 2007

4 24

GS-7

1997 2007

84 84

GS-9

1997 2007

93 154

GS-11

1997 2007

159 327

GS-12

1997 2007

1,170 913

GS-13

1997 2007

938 1,422

GS-14

1997 2007

443 542

GS-15

1997 2007

207 364

Other

1997 2007

106 1,383

Figure 2.12 1550 Community: Grade Distribution Comparison of General Schedule and Related Grade Workforce

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Figure 2.13 1550 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions by Age Group

13

contribute to the more youth-oriented community. Additionally, the 1550 series has positive education requirements requiring at least a bachelor’s degree for all hires. Seventeen percent of new hires received a recruitment bonus in 2007, while 22 individuals received federal student loan repayment program benefits in FY2007 and 16 received them in CY2008. Figure 2.14 provides a five-year pattern of accessions; annual accessions have risen the past three years, while losses have fluctuated (Appendix B). Total community personnel strength continued to rise in FY2008.

New Hire 2004

334

8

2005

307

20

2006

348

16

2007

391

19

2008

464

21

Agency Transfer-in

Figure 2.14 1550 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions

As with the 2210 Community, turnover is highest among the Net Generation age group. After spiking to 11.3% in 2006, Net-Gen turnover dropped to less than 8% in both FY2007 and FY2008. Overall, there is less turnover among the Computer Scientists than the IT Specialists, however, both Net-Gen and Gen X Computer Scientists who leave their agencies are significantly more likely to quit federal service than transfer to another job within the Federal Government (Figure 2.15). This could be an area for further exploration by agencies to determine why these individuals are leaving federal service; depending on their reasons, these younger Computer Scientists could be a better fit at another agency and might be interested in staying within the Government. Additional turnover and separations data are included in Appendix B. As a result of a different generational pattern, retirements from the Computer Science community are less than a third of all separations (Figure 2.16). Additionally, early retirements have played less of a role in total retirement losses and have been on a decline. Over the past six years, voluntary retirements have risen from 82% –87% of all retirements and these retirees had had an average length of service of 29 years in FY2008. Thirty percent of FY2008 retirements were from individuals in alternate pay plans, followed by GS-13s (24%), GS-15s (16%), GS-12s (15%), and GS-14s (13%). Currently, women comprise 28% of federal Computer Scientists, down from 31% in FY1997. Generationally, female representation peaks within Generation X, where women comprise 30% of Gen-Xers. The ability to improve female representativeness will be challenging, given the lower numbers of women who enter this career field. In FY2008, women were 24% of separations from federal service and 22% of new hires, resulting in a net gain of 39 women. Of note, on average, starting salaries for new Computer Scientists within the Federal Government were higher for women, an indication that agencies may be trying to positively influence their representation. Racial/ethnic minorities comprise 26% of all federal Computer Scientists, with the Asian community representing over half of the minority population (Figure

14

Death

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

0 2 4

Quit

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

61 67 15

Transfer

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

7 15 24

Retire

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

0 1 81

Termination

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

14 6 19

Figure 2.15 1550 Community: FY2008 Separations by Generation

Retirement 82

Quit 143

Death 6 Termination 39

Figure 2.16 1550 Community: FY2008 Separations from Federal Service

2.17). African-Americans account for 8% of Computer Scientists and Hispanics/Latinos, for another 3%. Other racial/ethnic groups totaled less than 1%. Within the General Schedule/Related Schedule, AfricanAmericans, Asians, and Hispanic/Latinos have greater representation at GS-12 and less representation at GS13 to GS-15. However, it should be noted that Hispanic/ Latinos and Asians have a greater percentage of their population in alternative pay plans, as shown in Appendix C. More in-depth study would be required to determine overall representativeness across the 1550 series.

0855 COMMUNITY The Electronics Engineering community, the 0855 series, is the second largest segment of the federal IT workforce, ending FY2008 with 19,302 individuals (Figure 2.18). The DoD employs 85% of federal Electronics Engineers; other federal organizations with large populations include Transportation, NASA, Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission. While most Cabinet-level organizations employ one or more Electronics Engineers, many have decreased their number of these employees. During FY1997–FY2008, the size of the federal-wide community decreased 18%, with the U.S. Department of State implementing the largest internal reduction in federal Electronics Engineers (from over 200 individuals to less than 10 over four years’ time). In FY2008, one organization, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, more than doubled its 0855 population, growing from 9 to 23 employees. About one third of the Electronics Engineering community is in alternative pay plans. This is a significant shift that occurred during the last 10 years, as shown in Figure 2.19. Positions graded at the GS-12 and 13 levels have both declined, most likely as a result of this migration to alternative pay plans, the re-grading of positions, and the community’s decline in personnel strength. Interestingly, this series is the only occupation in the Major Federal IT Community where the average salary of those in other pay plans is lower than the average salary of individuals paid under the General Schedule. It is unclear if locality pay or special salary rates are influencing this, or if the seniority/pay levels of those in other pay plans are lower, but further investigation may be warranted. The median grade of GS/Related Schedule employees is GS-13.

Native Am/Alaskan Native

23

Black/African-American

410

Asian

784

White 3,977 Hispanic/Latino

164

Multi-Racial/Other

21

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Is

18

Figure 2.17 1550 Community: FY2008 Race/Ethnicity

2004

20,076

2005

20,212

2006

19,731

2007

19,375

2008

19,302

Figure 2.18 0855 Community: Personnel Strength by Fiscal Year

GS-5

1997 2007

24 23

GS-7

1997 2007

237 152

GS-9

1997 2007

409 202

GS-11

1997 2007

968 532

GS-12

1997 2007

8,849 2,619

GS-13

1997 2007

8,220 5,820

GS-14

1997 2007

2,635 2,178

GS-15

1997 2007

1,268 1,609

Other

1997 2007

865 6,238

Figure 2.19 0855 Community: Grade Distribution Comparison of General Schedule and Related Workforce

15

Under 20

1

0

1

0

0

20–24

239

230

231

182

232

25–29

152

163

168

205

239

30–34

85

86

83

96

121

35–39

99

68

72

70

83

40–44

98

87

80

101

107

45–49

85

72

78

91

96

2004

50–54

31

37

49

46

70

2005

55–59

20

24

17

39

33

2006

60–64

14

11

19

21

15

2007

65+

1

4

14

10

7

2008

Figure 2.20 0855 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions by Age Group

The Electronics Engineering community draws the largest segment of its accessions from recent college graduates which influences generational hiring patterns, as shown in Figure 2.20. Significant challenges exist in recruiting to this community as 321, or 42% of new hires, received a recruitment bonus in FY2007. Accessions have been increasing (Figure 2.21) as the community’s downsizing levels out. Unlike the Computer Science community, retirements form the major losses from this community (Figure 2.22). Individuals in other pay plans comprise 33% of voluntary retirements, followed by GS-13 individuals (29%) and GS-15s (17%). The next largest source of losses is from Net Generation and Generation X employees who quit federal service (Figure 2.23). NetGeners are over four times more likely to quit than to transfer to another job, a behavior worth further study. Overall, Electronics Engineering turnover has been fairly stable across the generations, with losses from federal service changing from a downward trend, to slightly increasing in FY2008 as shown in Appendix B. Net Generation representation within the community has grown from 10% –12% over the past five years, demonstrating some positive momentum and, together, the Net-Gen and Gen X comprised 42% of the Electronics Engineering Community in FY2008. Loss rates are being positively influenced by aggressive management tactics. In 2007, 2,314 Electronics Engineers received retention bonuses, comprising 10% of all federal recipients, and making them the top series targeted with retention bonuses within the Federal Government that year. Twenty-six individuals also received relocation bonuses in 2007. Federal student

16

New Hire 2004

765

50

2005

722

60

2006

753

60

2007

771

90

2008

917

86

Agency Transfer-in

Figure 2.21 0855 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions

Termination 48

Death 19

Retirement 517 Quit 258

Figure 2.22 0855 Community: FY2008 Separations from Federal Service

program loan repayment participation dropped in this community, with 93 recipients in FY2007 versus 61 in CY2008. Women currently comprise 10% of the 0855 community, up from 8% in FY1997. This is the only occupation examined that has seen growth in the number of women within the community, although they still have the lowest female representation among the five series. Additionally, of the five series within the Major Federal IT Community, Electronics Engineering has the lowest female representation among the older generations. Only 7% of federal Baby Boomer Electronic Engineers are women vice 16% representation in the Net Generation, as shown in Appendix C. This may have a negative impact on women pursuing a federal career in engineering as there are fewer senior female role models. In FY2008, women were 7% of losses from the community and 13% of new hires, for a net gain of 15 women engineers. Racial/ethnic minorities make up 28% of this community. Asians comprise 16% of engineers, African-Americans and Hispanic/Latinos each make up about 5.6% and other ethnicities total the remaining 1%, as shown in Figure 2.24. Within the General Schedule, Asians, African-Americans and Hispanic/Latinos are less represented at GS-13 through GS-15 when compared against the White population in these pay grades. However, it must be noted that a larger percentage Hispanic/Latino and Asian Electronics Engineers (35% each) are in alternate pay plans versus White engineers (28%). Thus, further examination on representation would be warranted. Twenty-nine percent of African-Americans are also in alternative pay plans.

Death

Quit

Transfer

Retire

Termination

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

1 0 18

Net-Gen 113 Gen X 86 Boomer+ 59 Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

27 58 64

Net-Gen 0 Gen X 4 Boomer+ 513 Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

13 8 27

Figure 2.23 0855 Community: FY2008 Separations by Generation

Native Am/Alaskan Native

107

Black/African-American

1,072

Asian

3,040

White

13,867

Hispanic/Latino

1,089

Multi-Racial/Other

59

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Is

66

Figure 2.24 0855 Community: FY2008 Race/Ethnicity

Electronics Engineers traditionally have been considered part of the Science and Engineering community in government. With the expansion of IT and integration of technologies, many engineers may now be performing work considered to be part of the information technology domain, some of which is already captured in the 0854, or Computer Engineering series. For 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated that one third of Electronics Engineers were employed as Computer Hardware Engineers. As the Federal Government progresses in its effort to become a competency-based workforce, personnel surveys and job analyses may be able to shed further light on the interplay between the disciplines and how their IT-related work may be best described. 2

17

0854 COMMUNITY As with the Computer Scientists, the Computer Engineering community, the 0854 series, has also experienced significant growth, increasing over 70% between FY1997–FY2007. The community continues to grow, ending FY2008 with 4,203 personnel in the federal population (Figure 2.25). The DoD and NASA employ almost 95% of the federal Computer Engineering community, although most Cabinet-level agencies do employ one or more Computer Engineers. The Department of the Treasury, the Department of Transportation and DoD have all experienced steady growth in their Computer Engineering population, while NASA has decreased its number of Computer Engineers by 12% since FY2004. The 0854 series is the most youth-oriented of the five series within the Major Federal IT Population. Together, Net Generation (21%) and Generation X (33%) individuals form the majority of the community, with Baby Boomers and beyond accounting for 46% of the total population. The growth in the Computer Engineering community has been at every grade level, most notably at GS-12/13, as shown in Figure 2.26. Net-Geners have excellent opportunity for advancement within this community, outnumbering the other generations in every grade at GS-11 or below, and with almost identical numbers as Gen X at GS-12 (303 Gen X versus 300 NetGeners). This is a community that bears watching over the next few years. While this small community has the lowest turnover rate among the five communities, there has been some internal volatility that may be masked by overall community growth. With a larger Net-Gen population, typically comes a larger quit rate, as seen in other communities. Net Generation turnover was on a rising trend, but stabalized in FY2008 (Appendix B). As an example, Net-Gen quit numbers exceeded Baby Boomer retirements in FY2007, but then dropped below them in FY2008 (Figure 2.27). Accession patterns have also been more volatile in this community. Federal Computer Engineers, like their Electronics Engineer counterparts, have a positive degree requirement, and a similar youth-oriented hiring pattern, indicating hiring targeted to recent college graduates (Figure 2.28). In FY2004, there was a 30% spike in Net-Gen accessions (Figure 2.29). If recruitment incentives were used for this particularly large cohort, their payback period may have recently ended, making them potentially more susceptible to outside job offers. At the other end of the generational spectrum, retirements jumped 44% between FY2004 and FY2005, and continue to fluctuate, as do transfers. Overall, the use of recruitment and retirement incen-

18

2004

3,975

2005

4,101

2006

4,058

2007

4,125

2008

4,203

Figure 2.25 0854 Community: Fiscal Year End Strength

GS-5

1997 2007

5 11

GS-7

1997 2007

38 92

GS-9

1997 2007

45 98

GS-11

1997 2007

114 208

GS-12

1997 2007

587 969

GS-13

1997 2007

1,019 1,342

GS-14

1997 2007

355 472

GS-15

1997 2007

150 281

Other

1997 2007

87 652

Figure 2.26 0854 Community: Grade Distribution Comparison of General Schedule and Related Grade Workforce

Death

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

1 3 5

Quit

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

49 32 10

Transfer

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

9 17 8

Retire

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

0 0 60

Termination

Net-Gen Gen X Boomer+

4 2 2

Figure 2.27 0854 Community: FY2008 Separations by Generation

20–24

151

97

64

83

80

2004

25–29

52

48

35

49

70

2005

30–34

27

18

18

25

30

2006

35–39

29

31

14

32

24

2007

40–44

25

25

24

38

35

2008

45–49

17

21

16

26

32

50–54

8

10

14

14

12

55–59

6

2

5

6

5

60–64

1

4

2

5

0

65+

0

0

1

0

1

Figure 2.28 0854 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions by Age Group

tives currently does not indicate a significant problem in personnel strength. Only 18% of new hires received a recruitment bonus in 2007 and 32 individuals participated in the federal student loan repayment program. Federal-wide, 5 Computer Engineers received relocation bonuses and 35 received retention bonuses. However, given the large number of Net-Geners at the GS-12 level (and a small number at GS-13), more rapid advancement opportunities may be being utilized as an incentive. Personnel strength in this community continued to rise in FY2009. In FY2008, women comprised 18% of this community, showing a small decrease since FY1997. The Computer Engineering community currently has the smallest percentage of female Net-Geners across the Major Federal IT Population. Within the General Schedule, women are under-represented percentage-wise when compared to their male counterparts, at GS-12 through GS-14, and over-represented at GS-9 through GS-11. Racial/Ethnic minorities made up 31% of the Computer Engineering community in FY2008 (Figure 2.30) and Computer Engineers may be considered the most balanced community in its White/African-American representation across pay grades when compared to the other Major Federal IT Series. Although Hispanic/ Latinos and Asians are less represented from GS-13 through GS-15, they have higher population percentages at GS-12, creating opportunity for advancement. See Appendix C for additional data.

New Hire 2004

310

6

2005

242

24

2006

177

16

2007

249

29

2008

267

22

Agency Transfer-in

Figure 2.29 0854 Community: Fiscal Year End Strength

Native Am/Alaskan Native

26

Black/African-American

278

Asian

716

White

2,911

Hispanic/Latino

238

Multi-Racial/Other

23

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Is

7

Figure 2.30 0854 Community: FY2008 Race/Ethnicity

19

0391 COMMUNITY Changing technologies and the integration of capabilities and systems transmitting electronic information, have changed the role of the Telecommunications community, the 0391 series (Figure 2.31), over the past several years. This community also experienced an 18% decrease in personnel between FY1997 to FY2007 as telecommunications functions were outsourced or streamlined. Although all of the Cabinet-level agencies employ Telecommunications Specialists, most have decreased their number of employees. The reductions in overall personnel strength have been taken at every grade level, as shown in Figure 2.32. Within the Federal Government, only HHS has experienced significant personnel growth, more than tripling the size of their 0391 community between FY2006– FY2008 (growing from 116 to 367 personnel, mostly through a large transfer into the agency). There were 5,787 personnel in the 0391 series across the Federal Government at the end of FY2008, reversing a previous four-year pattern of declining personnel strength. The Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security employ the largest numbers of Telecommunications Specialists. The Baby Boomers dominate this community, with 70% of the overall population, and typically, retirements have accounted for over half of annual separations. Retirements are impacting every grade level in this community, most notably at the GS-12/13 levels. Hiring patterns greatly influence the generational representation, with many replacement accessions coming from the Boomer population, as shown in Figure 2.34. Currently Net-Geners comprise only 3% of the 0391 community. Given the current federal hiring trends, and the fact that Net-Gen Telecommunications Specialists have the highest turnover rate (24%) within the Major Federal IT Population, it is unlikely that their representation will grow significantly in this community without deliberate management intervention. Overall, the 0391 series has the highest turnover rates (Appendix B) within the Major Federal IT Population, which include the highest retirement and termination rates. Figure 2.35 displays the distribution of FY2008 separations. Limited incentives were used for this community in 2007: 7 individuals received recruiting bonuses; 8 received student loan repayment benefits and 1 employee was given a relocation bonus. More funds were directed at retaining people, with 83 individuals receiving a retention bonus. Another five individuals received student loan repayment program benefits in CY2008.

2004

5,838

2005

5,832

2006

5,817

2007

5.694

2008

5,787

Figure 2.31 0391 Community: Personnel Strength by Fiscal year

GS-5

1997 2007

16 6

GS-7

1997 2007

137 104

GS-9

1997 2007

976 587

GS-11

1997 2007

1,380 1,170

GS-12

1997 2007

2,074 1,325

GS-13

1997 2007

1,374 1,102

GS-14

1997 2007

433 389

GS-15

1997 2007

133 104

Other

1997 2007

19 481

Figure 2.32 0391 Community: Grade Distribution Comparison of General Schedule and Related Grade Workforce

New Hire

2004

379

44

2005

406

41

2006

416

48

2007

399

303

2008

497

68

Agency Transfer-in

Figure 2.33 0391 Community: Fiscal Year Accessions

20

Under 20

1

0

1

0

0

2004

20–24

25

17

24

33

13

2005

25–29

25

35

46

78

41

2006

30–34

56

46

33

60

82

2007

35–39

55

55

57

87

115

2008

40–44

95

121

126

142

187

45–49

77

95

95

126

164

50–54

49

38

43

85

117

55–59

26

28

30

42

110

60–64

8

8

4

30

66

65+

5

4

5

19

18

Figure 2.34 0391 Community: Grade Distribution Comparison of General Schedule and Related Grade Workforce

The telecommunications field has been transitioning in private industry as well as within the Federal Government. This community bears more examination to determine whether additional personnel management action is necessary. Women comprised 25% of this community in FY1997 and 20% in FY2008, with greater representation at GS11 and below. The Telecommunications community has the largest minority population, percentage-wise, of the Major Federal IT Population; 40% of its individuals are from a racial/ethnic minority (Figure 2.36). African-Americans are well-represented through GS-13, while Hispanic/Latinos and Asians are well-represented through GS-12. All three racial/ethnic groups are lessrepresented at GS-14/15.

FY2009 UPDATE The Major Federal IT Community grew by almost 5,000 people in FY2009, ending the year at 108,260. All five series included in this population saw in increase in strength, with new hires increasing and federal separations significantly decreasing. Eighty percent of the Federal CIO Council membership increased their IT Management (2210 series) personnel strength. The Department of Homeland Security had the largest increase, growing 13%, while DoD and the Department of Justice’s 2210 populations grew 8% and 7%, respectively. Appendix H contains a synopsis of key FY2009 statistics.

Quit 107 Retirement 198 Death 9

Termination 69

Figure 2.35 0391 Community: FY2008 Separations from Federal Service

Native Am/Alaskan Native

48

Black/African-American

1,016

Asian

171

White

4,102

Hispanic/Latino

377

Multi-Racial/Other

39

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Is

24

Figure 2.36 0391 Community: FY2008 Race/Ethnicity

21

22

forecast of future labor supply and demand Over the next several years, the Federal Government will experience the largest unplanned exodus of middle and senior management talent in the history of our nation as significant numbers of older workers currently in federal service become retirement-eligible. It is not known whether these departures will be as cataclysmic as a tsunami, or will instead ebb and flow over a greater number of years as the Baby Boomer generation times their retirements to meet individual life choices. Nor is it fully understood yet how the recent economic turmoil will impact federal retirements. No matter what the scenario, eventually the need to replace outgoing expertise, and also to fill newly created jobs, will result in a significant demand for talent within the labor market. This chapter provides a discussion of several labor force trends and their potential impact on IT workforce management.

23

MAKING SENSE OF FEDERAL RETIREMENT PROJECTIONS Federal workforce retirement behavior is influenced by a variety of individual and environmental factors. The first is individual retirement eligibility, which is based on the type of retirement system, age of the employee, length of service and minimum retirement age. Retirement decisions are further dependent on how individuals prioritize work, based on several factors that could include hours spent at work, desire for variety, financial needs, willingness to learn, and level of acceptable responsibility.1 Additionally, advancements in technology significantly influence individual career decisions of personnel in IT-related career fields who may be either positively or negatively impacted by changing technology. External environment influencers include the state of the economy and labor market demands, neither of which can be controlled by the employee. Finally, the traditional retirement model of employees ending their career after reaching their peak status is gradually shifting to new models of retirement. The interplay of all of these changeable conditions creates challenges in modeling predictive retirement behavior. The following retirement statistics (calculated prior to the recent economic recession) are provided as points of reference: •

From FY2006–FY2016, there will be 956,613 retirement-eligible employees throughout the Federal Government, but only 586,339 are predicted to retire during that period. 2

•

The average (or mean) continued federal employment after reaching retirement eligibility is 3.1 years, which can be further refined to 3.3 years for males and 2.7 years for females.3

•

Fifty-one percent of employees remain in the Federal Government 4 years after first becoming eligible for retirement, with approximately half of this group continuing to work for 9 more years.4

Nation-wide and global financial reversals have contributed to significant drops in home equity and retirement fund valuations. The recession, as well as the Boomers’ longer life expectancy, is causing many individuals to delay retirement, or to consider never retiring, as indicated in several surveys sponsored by the American Association of Retired People (AARP). This increasingly apparent trend has led BusinessWeek magazine to label the Boomers as “Gen U,” or “Generation Unretired.” 5 24

U.S. LABOR MARKET FORECAST: DEMAND UP AND SUPPLY DOWN The U.S. labor force annual growth rate peaked in the 1970s at 2.6% and has been decreasing with each subsequent decade, largely due to declining birth rates and the stabilization of the number of women entering the labor market. 6,7 From 1996 to 2006, the growth rate declined to 1.2% and it is expected to further decrease to 0.8% between 2006–2016.8 As the Nation’s need to recruit replacement workers increases, efforts will be challenged by this further slowdown in the growth of the U.S. labor force. Over the next decade, the projected labor force participation rate by age shows significant variation. The number of workers in the age range of 55 and older participating in the labor force is projected to be the fastest growing age group, from 38% in 2006 to 42.8% in 2016.9 Meanwhile, the amount of new entrants coming fresh from campuses is growing at a lower rate than workers who have been in the labor force for some time. In addition to targeting the Net Generation for recruitment, agency strategic workforce planning efforts will also need to factor in ways to retain and recruit older workers.10 The challenge will be balancing workforce experience sustainability and re-growth. More information about workforce planning can be found in Chapter 4.

IT OCCUPATIONAL TRENDS The Department of Labor has analyzed IT occupations across industry, developing detailed statistics on the 2008 U.S. labor force and projecting IT occupational trends through 2018.11 A descriptive summary of the IT occupations included in these projections is listed in Figure 3.1; more detailed information is listed in Appendix D. New IT jobs creation is being driven by changing technologies and the increasing demand for secure, trusted data and systems. Network Systems/Data Communications Analysts and Computer Applications Software Engineers will experience the greatest percentage of change within their occupations as shown in Figure 3.1. The forecasted impact on the number of jobs created, by IT occupation is shown in Table 3.1. Rankings within the two data sets may differ, depending on the size of the occupation (e.g., Computer Scientists rank fourth in the percentage of growth, but tenth in the number of new jobs created). Based on this forecast, from 2008– 2018, Computer Applications Software Engineers will gain 175,100 new jobs within their occupation, while Computer Operators will lose 19%, or 20,500 jobs, within their job field. Recruitment for many of the new jobs created will focus on Net-Gen college graduates who possess the latest knowledge and skills.

Network Systems/ Data Communications Analysts

53%

Computer Applications Software Engineers

34%

Computer Systems Software Engineers

30%

Computer/Information Scientists, Research

24%

Network/Computer System Administrators (includes Security Specialists)

23%

Database Administrators

20%

Computer Systems Analysts

20%

Computer/Information Systems Managers

17%

Computer Support Specialists: Tech Support Specialists, Helpdesk Techs

14%

Computer Specialists, All Other

13%

Top Executives (includes Chief Information Officer)

0% Computer Programmers

-3%

Computer Operators

-19%

Figure 3.1 Percentage of IT Job Growth from 2008–2018 (Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

2008

2018

Change by 2018

Computer Applications Software Engineers

514,800

689,900

175,100

Network Systems/Data Communications Analysts

292,000

447,800

155,800

Computer Systems Software Engineers

394,800

515,000

120,200

Computer Systems Analysts

532,200

640,300

108,100

Network/Computer System Admins (includes Security Specialists)

339,500

418,400

78,900

Computer Support Specialists: Tech Support/Helpdesk Techs

565,700

643,700

78,000

Computer/Information Systems Managers

293,000

342,500

49,500

Computer Specialists, all other

209,300

236,800

27,500

Database Administrators

120,400

144,700

24,400

28,900

35,900

7,000

Computer Programmers

426,700

414,400

-12,300

Computer Operators

110,000

89,500

-20,500

3,827,300

4,618,900

791,700

IT Occupations

Computer/Information Scientists, Research

NET INCREASE IN IT JOBS

Table 3.1 Where the IT Jobs Are (Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

25

EDUCATION

DIVERSITY

The majority of new IT jobs will require at a minimum a bachelor’s degree. Technical degree requirements predominantly will include the Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Information Systems, and Information Science areas of study. For more senior level IT jobs, increasingly there is a desire for education that includes both technology and business skills while some research positions require a PhD.

The primary dimensions of diversity most typically measured and analyzed in the federal workforce are age, gender, race and ethnicity. Since it has been established previously that a college degree has become a requirement for many federal IT jobs, this section will focus primarily on the role that college education trends and workplace attitudes play in achieving gender and racial/ethnic diversity in the labor force. Workplace impacts from a multigenerational workforce are discussed in Chapter 6.

Two exceptions to the degree requirement are Computer Operators and Computers Support Specialists/System Administrators. In the case of Computer Operators, onthe-job training may continue to be the norm. As for Computers Support Specialists/System Administrators, recruitment selection will be driven by strong technical skills and certifications will be essential. In the dozen years between 1991–2003, annual bachelor’s degrees conferred in Computer and Information Sciences almost doubled, growing from 25,159 to 57,433, and then peaked in 2004, with 59,488 degrees conferred; by 2007, graduation rates had dropped by 30%.12 This trend is troubling, given the expected job growth within this field and the need for new talent to replace retiring Baby Boomers. Additionally, this field includes many disciplines that are a source for critical cybersecurity jobs (e.g., Computer Networking, Systems Administration, and Information Systems Security). Table 3.2 highlights the overall projected demand for new IT jobs. Some mitigation may be possible from redistributing individuals from anticipated Computer Programming and Computer Operator job decreases, but this action might require additional formal education for those individuals. Additionally, while general college enrollment rates are high, the graduation rates are not. In the United States, although 70% of the Net Generation will start a degree program, only 30% are expected to have a college degree by age 30.13 The shortfalls described assume all new IT jobs require a four-year degree; in occupations such as Computer Support Specialist and Database Administrator, twoyear degrees or commercial certifications may be sufficient for some lower skilled jobs. IT Job Outlook Through 2018

The Gender Gap - More women have earned degrees than men since the 1980s and, over the long term, the number of women awarded degrees will continue to outpace men for associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees.14 From 2007–2019, the total number of degrees at all levels is projected to increase for women by 28% as opposed to 17% for men.15 While women are earning more degrees in general, significant gender differences exist in the number of women obtaining bachelor’s degrees in Computer and Information Sciences and Computer Engineering. Over the long term, the number of women completing degrees in Computer and Information Sciences has been declining, while there has been only a marginal increase in the number of women receiving Computer Engineering degrees as demonstrated by data from the National Center for Education Statistics: •

Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services Degrees Earned by Women: 29.4% in 1990-91, 27.5% in 1995-96, and 20.6% in 2005-06.16

•

Engineering and Engineering Technologies Degrees Earned by Women: 14.1% in 1990-91, 16.2% 17 in 1995-96, and 17.9% in 2005-06.

As a result of these trends, women earn less than a quarter of the degrees conferred for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering. Figure 3.2 highlights the significant gender gaps for degrees compared to the average for all degrees and across the four major IT fields of study.

Number of New IT Jobs

Total Demand (includes total IT job growth)

824,400

Net Demand (assumes offsets from IT job field decreases)

791,700

Table 3.2 Potential IT Growth Requiring A College Education (Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition)

26

While industry can often hire scientists, engineers, and technologists from other countries to fill talent gaps, the tightening U.S. labor market will be further constrained for federal agencies by the gender gap in IT education. Also exacerbating the situation, female scientists, engineers, and technologists who are already in these occupations, are leaving them due to career shifts. Based on data provided in the the Harvard Business Review article, “Stopping the Exodus of Women in Science,” 18 the following reasons are cited:

In 2008, college enrollment in Computer Science programs saw an upswing for the first time in six years, increasing 6.2% over 19

2007. While this is good news, the number of women graduates remains steady, and diversity within this occupation is still

•

Hostility in the workplace/machismo atmosphere

•

Sense of isolation

ethnic/racial minority interest in science

•

Disconnect with women’s preferred work style

and math skill areas may wane as early

•

Long hours and excessive travel

as sixth grade, presenting a challenge to

•

Lack of sponsors to clarify career advancement

those federal organizations and academic

Organizations should examine female attrition in IT technical occupations to determine if problems exist. At the same time, agencies should encourage female students at the high school level to pursue IT degrees through such outreach events as the Federal IT Shadow Day or other high school education initiatives.

Bachelor’s Males

Average for All Degrees Computer Engineer Electrical/Electronics Engineer Computer/Information Science IT Management

42.5 89.2 86.4 79.4 71.5

Bachelor’s Females

Average for All Degrees Computer Engineer Electrical/Electronics Engineer Computer/Information Science IT Management

57.5 10.8 13.6 20.6 28.5

Master’s Males

Average for All Degrees Computer Engineer Electrical/Electronics Engineer Computer/Information Science IT Management

40 74.3 80.1 73.1 68.5

Master’s Females

Average for All Degrees Computer Engineer Electrical/Electronics Engineer Computer/Information Science IT Management

60 25.7 19.9 26.9 31.5

an issue. Research shows that female and

institutions actively seeking to improve gender and minority representation.

20

Figure 3.2 Percentage of IT Degrees Conferred by Gender for 2005–2006* (Source: Digest of Education Statistics 2007) * Computer Engineering also includes Computer Engineering, General, and Computer Software Engineering. IT Management includes Management Information Systems, General; Information Resources Management/CIO Training; Knowledge Management; and other Management Information Systems and Services.

27

2006 IT Bachelor’s Degrees Percent Conferred (excludes non-resident)

2006 Civilian Labor Force Percent Distribution

White

67.3

68.2

Black/African-American

13.2

11.4

7.1

13.7

12.4

6.7

Race/Ethnicity

Hispanic/Latino Asian and All Other Groups

Table 3.3 Diversity Perspective of U.S. Computer/Information Science Graduates Compared to the U.S. Labor Force*

Race/Ethnicity Trends - In 2003, the Hispanic/Latino community became the largest minority group within the United States. Their growth in population, due to higher birth rates and increasing immigration rates, will heavily influence the diversity of future college enrollments. Projected campus diversity between 2006–2017 includes a 39% increase in Hispanic enrollment, a 26% increase in both African-American and Asian enrollments, a 30% increase in American Indian/Alaska Native enrollments and a 5% increase in White enroll21 ments. Currently, African-Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented on college campuses in general, and Hispanics are also underrepresented in Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services majors. Table 3.3 provides a comparison of the largest IT field of study with the general labor force by race/ethnicity. In Figure 3.3, the Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services field of study is compared to the average for all degrees conferred. This figure illustrates similar differences as Table 3.4, while also highlighting the higher than average rate of these IT degrees conferred to non-resident students. International students comprise half of the total enrollment in graduate-level science and engineering fields, with China and India at the forefront. In 2004, China made up 14% of the total worldwide international student population. During this same period, 25.3% of all international students in United States were from India and China. 22

CHALLENGES TO IT SKILLS MANAGEMENT As organizations try to sustain their IT bench strength, they will face several workforce management challenges. Labor supply issues previously discussed will create recruiting and retention issues. At the same time, changing job roles, resulting from the continual introduction of new technology and evolving work practices, have created a community that lacks the maturity in skill development processes and defined career paths.23 IT leaders engaged in workforce planning and development need to factor in these variables as they plan for the rising Net-Gen workforce of the future: Tacit Knowledge Loss - The massive Baby Boomer generation is starting to retire but little has been done to develop a means to capture tacit knowledge. As this highly experienced cadre prepares to leave, the demand for replacement skills will be further exacerbated. Legacy Applications and Technology Support - The upcoming wave of retirements will impede the ability of many organizations to maintain skilled workers to support legacy systems. Some agencies like the Social Security Administration have taken action to transition to newer programming languages and platforms.24 Others still view a technology shift as a long term solution, but the planning for the shift or continued support will need to occur soon.25 As commercial training or education is

* Race/Ethnicity groupings were aggregated to enable comparison between Department of Labor data and data contained in Table 275 of the “Digest of Education Statistics 2007”. Additionally, non-resident data was not included, which increased the percentage of IT degrees conferred by race/ethnicity. The field of study for Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services includes: General and Other Computer and Information sciences; Artificial Intelligence and Robotics; IT; General, Specific Applications and Other Computer Programming/Programmer; Data Processing; Information Science/Studies; Computer Systems Analysis/Analyst; Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design; Data Modeling/ Warehousing and Database Administration; Computer Graphics; Computer Software and Media Applications, Other; Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications; Systems Administration/Administrator; System, Networking, and LAN/WAN Management/Manager; Computer and Information Systems Security; Web/Multimedia Management and Webmaster; Computer/IT Services Administration and Management; and Other Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services.

28

White

72.4% 62.9%

Black/ African-American Hispanic/ Latino Asian/ Pacific Islander American Indian/ Native American Non-Resident

9.6% 12.4% 7.2% 6.7% 6.9% 10.9% .7% .6% 3.1% 6.5%

All Degrees Computer/Information Science

Figure 3.3 Diversity Perspective of Bachelor’s Degrees in Computer/Information Sciences Compared to All Degrees Conferred in 2005–2006* (Source: Digest of Education Statistics 2007)

no longer available, new entrants into the labor market typically will not have skills in areas like mainframes or COBOL programming language to hire as replacements 26 for the retiring Baby Boomers. Technology Rate of Change - The introduction of new technology will continue to increase, creating a constant need to hire or develop employees with the necessary skills to meet the demand. Retraining the current workforce and creating a culture of continuous learning will be fundamental principles for organizations. IT Hiring Increase - Two thirds of federal agencies listed IT as a mission critical occupation in 2007 and, near term, Partnership for Public Service estimates rank IT occupations as one of the top five federal hiring requirements.27 The U.S. Department of Labor is projecting 791,700 new IT hires across all sectors, including the Federal Government, through 2018; Table 3.1 has a breakout of hiring needs by IT occupation.28 Citizenship Requirement - The growth of the available U.S. labor pool is shrinking and approximately 25% of the largest growing ethnic group, the Hispanic/Latino population, are not U.S. citizens. While private industry can leverage immigrants and global talent to fill crucial talent gaps, the Government’s requirement for United States citizenship restricts the available labor pool. This requirement is not expected to change as the Federal Government increases its focus on cybersecurity and critical information infrastructure protection.

Intense Competition for Veterans - As the future labor market continues to constrict and the demand for talent increases, veterans will become an increasingly sought after talent pool to fill vacancy needs across government as well as the private sector. Organizations that have relied on this pipeline of talent will face increased competition. IT Degree Shortfalls - As previously discussed, the level of students graduating with IT degrees is less than required to meet future demand and is also being negatively impacted by the gender imbalance in IT degrees conferred.29 For 2005–2006, males outpaced females in IT Computer Management, Information Sciences, and Support Services bachelor’s degrees by over 3 to 1. For Computer Engineering degrees, the male to female ratio was over 8 to 1. 30 This further reduces the supply of available talent in the labor market. To close the gender gap in IT-related fields of study, significant intervention would be required at the high school level or earlier. Less Educated IT Workforce - Currently, Federal Government employees are significantly better educated than the private sector. As both sectors face greater turnover, the demand for available IT college graduates will increase, creating the potential for steep competition. Agencies not able to provide attractive and competitive job offers may need to re-evaluate degree requirements and offer internal degree completion incentives.

* Computer/Information Science degrees comprise 61.1% of all IT-related degrees. Data for other IT fields of study was not available by race/ethnicity.

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Changes in Work Environment - The greater use of alternative work plans and workforce flexibilities, and the expansion of new work models, whether a redefinition of part-time employees or the implementation of 20hour work week positions, will create personnel management challenges as IT leaders adjust to managing 31 employees working on different schedules.

skill gaps identified by CIOs in the AFFIRM-sponsored survey in 2008 were program management, security, collaborating across organizational boundaries, EA and strategic planning. Program management, security and EA also ranked in the top five in 2007 (collaboration and strategic planning were not including in the skills survey in 2007).

Greater Need for Supervisory Expertise - In October 2009, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) provided a report to the President and Congress, focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with the pending loss of significant numbers of supervisory personnel in the federal workplace. The MSPB is anticipating extensive losses as current data indicates that supervisory personnel tend to be older and have more years of federal experience, thus making them highly likely to retire during the coming wave of Baby Boomer retirements. 32 In addition to noting the loss of supervisory expertise, the MSPB also described the greater burdens being placed upon supervisors due to several factors, including changing work structure models which require more networking and communication; new personnel performance plans requiring more frequent and detailed observation of individuals’ performance; and the increased need to manage continuous learning and competency development in a knowledge-based workforce.33

The Computing Technology Industry Association identified the following global skills priorities in its “Summary of Skills Gaps in the World’s IT Workforce: A CompTIA International Research Study” (www.comptia.org): 36

Business Value Skill Set - As the focus has shifted to align IT priorities to mission capabilities, so has the thinking of the right skill mix for IT professionals. The need to integrate technology into business processes has created a greater desire for business acumen and interpersonal skills combined with expected technical skills. This will require a refinement of IT workforce skills and updating of professional development plans. Specific IT Skills Gaps - The Federal Chief Information Officers (CIOs) Council, in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management’s Human Capital Leadership and Merit Systems Accountability Division, has completed three periodic IT workforce capability assessments focused on the IT workforce. Based on the IT Workforce Capability Assessment (ITWCA) survey of 2006, four specialized job activities, enterprise architecture (EA), IT project management, IT security/information assurance, and solutions architecture, were identified as the highest importance. (The executive summary can be found at www.cio.gov). The Association for Federal Information Resources Management’s (AFFIRM) Top Ten Challenges Survey, administered annually to Federal CIOs, identified the ability to hire and retain skilled IT professionals as their top challenge in both 2007 and 2008, while also producing similar skill gap results to the ITWCA surveys of individual federal IT employees.34,35 The five top-ranked

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•

Three most important IT skills gaps: security, general networking, and operating systems

•

Widest skill gap proficiency: security, firewalls, and data privacy

•

Area for most skill growth: radio frequency (RF) mobile and wireless technology.

•

Other skill growth areas of importance included web-based technologies (Web 2.0, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) techniques, and specific programming languages

THE COMING NET GENERATION EDGE During the last 50 years, most productivity gains were realized through automation and technology integration. While software and hardware enhancements will continue to reduce IT personnel resources required for routine network administration and maintenance functions, in the future, greater productivity will require a more agile IT organization. Increasing agility requires improving the ability of people to effectively respond to the unknown or unexpected; innovating or creating new methods, processes, or products; simplifying communications and information sharing; collaborating with others to execute missions and responsibilities; and most crucial, a supporting culture that inspires imagination and innovation. The agile worker is a good fit to describe Net-Geners; their energy and perspective will bring a needed dynamic to IT organizations.

ASSESSING THE IT TALENT WAR It would be natural to think that with unemployment figures in double digits, job vacancies would have qualified candidates lining up to fill them and that the time-to-fill jobs would be greatly reduced; however, neither of these assumptions is proving true. According to a September 2009 report by Robert Half International and CareerBuilder, managers continue to face difficulties in finding qualified applicants and the average time37 to-fill job vacancies remains unchanged. As Liz Ryan, a columnist for BusinessWeek, puts it, “Now more than ever, employers need the sort of employees who can wade confidently into a messy business situation (a bollixed up database integration, a disintegrating tech-support function, or a six-months-delayed product launch) and clean it up.” 38 And, Todd Thibodeaux, president and Chief Executive Officer of the Computing Technology Industry Association, agrees that while there are a tremendous number of IT individuals looking for work, finding 39 those with the right qualifications remains challenging. As the economy begins to improve, jumpstarting technology projects will be a top priority of many employers, and CIOs 40,41 may be looking to improve their current understaffing. The problem many managers will face is that even while they look to expand staff, current employees may see an economic upswing as an opportunity to jump ship to a new employer, especially if the economy quickly improves. This may be particularly true in those organizations that cut salaries, raises, bonuses, or training during the recession while increasing the workload of those individuals still employed. Jennifer Deal, a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego, California, cautions that talent management strategies, targeted to generational requirements, will be critical during the economic recovery period, particularly if the nation experiences a long slow recovery.42 Additionally, generational differences, exacerbated by differing levels of economic well being, and slower turnover by Baby Boomers who choose to extend their working years, may result in increased friction in the workplace, ultimately leading to greater attrition by the Net Generation.43

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strategic workforce planning Strategic workforce planning is a systematic process that includes forecasting both short- and long-term organizational human capital requirements, measuring current workforce capabilities and competency gaps, formulating strategies to close gaps for both current and future workforce needs, and measuring the effectiveness of those actions. The objective ultimately is to ensure that an organization has the right number of people at the right place with the right skills at the right time to fulfill the agency’s strategic plan. Addressing the Federal Government’s human capital challenges is a responsibility shared by many parties, including the President, federal agencies and their Chief Human Capital Officers, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Additionally, certain federal positions, such as Chief Information Officers, have specific functional workforce management responsibilities.

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In the past, there has been a tendency for workforce planners to look at workforce behavior from a neat, 3-generation perspective, discussed below: •

Older generation: retirement-eligible and focused on their pensions

•

Middle generation: the typical workforce majority, focused primarily on their compensation and benefits package

•

Younger generation: future workforce, working their way up the ladder by gaining experience onthe-job or through skills training and education

This model no longer fits. Net-Geners, the youngest generation in the workforce, are not patiently working their way through the organizational hierarchy, but are instead sampling professional opportunities and moving on quickly when they see no clear cut advantages, personally, professionally, or financially, to staying. As a result, many organizations are experiencing the loss of younger workers before they can recover their recruitment investment. On the other hand, even with a large, retirement-eligible population, older generations are now staying longer in the workforce, for both personal fulfillment and financial needs. With these changing generational behaviors, there are many implications for federal IT workforce recruitment, retention and professional development including: •

Turnover will increase as retirements rise over the next decade.

•

More of the replacements will come from Gen X and the Net Generation and lower-to-mid level turnover may rise due to the number of new entrants into the federal workforce.

•

Some older employees will extend their careers or be willing to stay under more flexible working arrangements.

•

Advancement opportunities will increase as current employees are promoted to fill gaps from increased turnover.

•

More replacement hiring will come from private industry.

•

More mentoring will be required which will need to be factored into managers’ work schedules.

•

Leaders will need to adopt and embrace different practices to retain their workforce.

•

The need for resources required to recruit, train and retain will rise.

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The importance of a strong, workforce planning program should not be underestimated in the successful management of a cohesive, multi-generational workforce. OPM has developed a workforce planning model which can assist IT organizations in strategic workforce planning. Additionally, in May 2008, OPM published “Best Practices in Workforce Planning,” which can be found on their website, www.opm.gov. This guide is a concise workforce planning resource for all workforce managers.

Strategic workforce planning can pay dividends by helping agencies to create a stronger, more highly skilled workforce. According to a September 2009 report by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, previous psychological study has concluded that “a superior skilled worker produces 32% more output than an average worker, and a superior manager or professional produces 48% more output.” 1

FEDERAL IT WORKFORCE REPORTING During the last decade, periodically, federal agencies have been required to review the state of their IT workforce and their ability to meet agency mission requirements. At first, IT workforce initiatives were directed and reviewed separately by OPM and OMB, but, over time, evaluating the status of the federal IT workforce was folded into the overarching framework of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) and its human capital scorecard. In May 2008, significant workforce reporting elements of the PMA, as well as provisions of the Chief Human Capital Officers Act of 2002, were codified in title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 250. Those areas of the federal IT workforce considered mission critical have ongoing agency human capital management and annual reporting requirements directed by these regulations.

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norms and characteristics of the net generation Both the federal IT workforce, and the U.S. workforce at large, span five generations, with the Baby Boomers by far the largest working cohort. This majority representation will change over the next sev1 eral years in the U.S. civilian labor force, as shown in Figure 5.1 on page 38. Although the younger generations (Gen X and the Net Generation) are currently significantly under-represented in federal service, their presence will start to grow as replacement workers are hired behind the retiring Baby Boom generation. As part of the initiative to become better informed about the coming changes in workforce dynamics, the Federal CIO Council entered into a partnership with the nGenera Corporation (which includes the former New Paradigm Learning Corporation) in order to leverage nGenera’s research and experience in this area. This chapter addresses the eight “norms” that characterize the Net Generation, and the attitudes and expectations that Net-Geners are bringing to the working world.

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Pre-Boomer

Baby Boomer

Generation X

Net Generation

1980

49%

1990

28%

2000

13%

2010

3%

1980

51%

1990

54%

2000

48%

2010

37%

1980

0%

1990

18%

2000

22%

2010

22%

1980

0%

1990

0%

2000

16%

2010

38%

Figure 5.1 The Changing Representation of Generations at Work in the U.S. Labor Force (Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics as reported by nGenera Insight Research)

THE EIGHT NORMS OF THE NET GENERATION The Net Generation is slowly but surely coming to the federal workplace. The oldest of them are over 30, with education and some job experience under their belt. As a generation, they are over 80 million strong, larger in fact, than the Baby Boomer generation. They cannot be ignored as the major source of talent to recruit, develop and retain over the next decades. Additionally, there is much to admire about this generation. They are ambitious and innovative, enjoy teamwork, and understand technology. In short, they have sampled the best characteristics of each generation, while still creating their own identity and worth to the workplace. In October 2006, the New Paradigm Learning Corporation (now nGenera) conducted 1,750 interviews with Net-Geners aged 13 through 29, in the U.S. and Canada. This research, as well as a follow-on global study, revealed and validated what Don Tapscott, nGenera Chairman, refers to as the “Eight Norms of the Net Generation.” 2 These norms are patterns of behavior, which if properly channeled, can form the basis for a revitalized, innovative work culture that will benefit all employees, young and old. The eight norms demonstrate the Net-Geners’ workplace needs for flexible work schedules and overtime; social connection with their peers and a place to belong; variety in their work; leading by example and involvement, with positive feedback and public recognition; and training as a tool for productivity and re-

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tention. Understanding the implications of these norms within the workplace is critical to successfully managing the Net Generation. The eight norms are: Freedom - The Net Generation, more than any other generation, expects to set and abide by its own priorities. Net-Geners place high priority on time with family and friends, so much so that they see their job fitting into their personal and social lives/lifestyles, instead of the opposite, more traditional behavior.3 As discussed in Chapter 6, they are not the only generation wanting more flexibility in the workplace, but they may be the driving force behind the routinization of more flexible schedules in the workplace. Customization - Living in a custom-created world is second nature to the Net Generation. They choose how they get their information or entertainment, when they get it, the color, configuration, and applications on the delivery device, and the picture on the credit card used to pay for it. In selecting a workplace, Net-Geners will look for choices in job benefits and will want to customize the jobs they select.4 The Net-Gen will gravitate to jobs that allow them to do more of what they enjoy and take an interest in, possibly even affording dedicated time for specialization.5 While it currently may be infeasible to enable customized technology in a federal workspace, engaging the Net-Gen in designing and improving work processes could yield substantial dividends. Scrutinizers - The Net Generation is highly adept at online comparative analysis. Net-Geners in the hunt for work will carefully consider which occupations best

fit their professional goals and work style preferences; and they will thoroughly research jobs available and the associated employers’ culture, benefits and emphasis on career development.6 Once hired, Net-Geners will demand trusting and transparent relationships with their organization.7 Because of this scrutiny, organizations should understand the benefit of a welldesigned, current website and easily understandable job announcements as initial marketing efforts to future employees. However, the Partnership for Public Service recommends using both high-tech and high-touch, human interaction in educating young people about federal job and career opportunities.8 Based on their current scrutiny of the labor sectors, the Net Generation, in the past, had limited interest in working for the public sector as a whole, as shown in Table 5.1. However, the former Council for Excellence in Government concluded that interest in public service could significantly rise if young people were asked to serve by individuals whose opinions they respect, most notably, their parents or teachers.9 Integrity - As part of the scrutiny Net-Geners apply to their job hunts, they will be keen to uncover the record and reputation of potential employers with respect to their commitment to integrity and ethical practices.10 They will not embrace a company/organization that has questionable ethics or that does not appear to translate words (policy) into action (practice), nor will they follow questionable leadership.11 Collaboration - The Net Generation has grown up in an interactive world. They are used to pulsing their social networks for information and feedback and working collaboratively on tasks.12 Additionally, they want to provide their stamp on product and process development.13 Their preference for applications and technologies that support collaboration, such as Facebook, text messaging, and wikis, along with their inherent proclivity for collaboration itself, are creating a need for organizations to identify and acquire technical and non-technical solutions for enhancing communications. This is discussed more in-depth in Chapter 9. Entertainment - Enjoyment of the job and the workplace is also very important to Net-Geners. They want to learn new things and be a part of the action, and they expect to have fun while doing it.14 Equally important, they tend to work hard at tasks and then want to decompress. Blocking social networking sites and discouraging any non-work internet usage basically prevents them from taking a break on their own terms, whether it be for gaming, blogging, surfing, or chatting.15

Speed - Owing to their demand for speed of communication, Net-Geners tend not to use more traditional methods such as the telephone and email in their personal communications, preferring the speed of instant messenging.16 They will look for avenues to speed their productivity and response time wherever possible. This includes everything from feedback on performance to their rate of professional growth within an organization.17 Net-Geners will value those who provide the timely feedback they desire. Innovation - Members of the Net Generation are “digital natives.” Having grown up with technology in every aspect of their lives, IT capabilities are often second nature to them.18 And, with their desire to customize, they work hard to provide the solutions to adapt things to suit their own needs.19 As a generation, they have the greatest facility for the IT capabilities needed in the workforce, both today and in the future. Interest in Sectors as “Ideal Employers” | Ages 13–30 Public Sector

20%

Non-Profit Organizations

25%

Private Sector

55%

Table 5.1 Net-Gen Interest in Labor Sectors as “Ideal Employers” (Source: nGenera Insight Research)

GENERAL NET-GEN CHARACTERISTICS The Net Generation can be generally characterized as the most demanding generation in history, demanding challenge, meaningful work with impact, committed coworkers, and the ability to reach personal and financial goals. While recognizing that Net-Geners prefer to be viewed as individuals vice “a group,” federal managers can benefit by understanding where this generation is coming from and where they want to go. Many Net-Geners are products of hectic, dual-career families and grew up during a time of significant economic prosperity when Boomer parents were able to bankroll their technology-driven lifestyle. Additionally, this was a generation exposed to a concerted, nationwide movement by parents, teachers and counselors in the 1980s to build their self-esteem.20 During this period, it became general practice for trophies and certificates to be awarded for every participatory endeavor, regardless of skill or contribution. The result is

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a generation with a strong sense of entitlement and 21 self-confidence, as well as a need to be recognized. Both employers and employees will need to manage their expectations, and strive to achieve mutually beneficial expectations. For the Net-Gener, this means coming to the realization that they probably won’t become superstars in the workplace overnight. At the same time, employers must understand the Net-Geners expect to receive challenging assignments shortly after arriving onboard, to be recognized for achievement and to be paid for performance. Growing up on the go, Net-Geners have been steered to maximize their time, particularly with parental influence and guidance, and may not have learned how to set work priorities themselves.22 They believe they can do it all and expect managers to feel the same.23 Fame and fortune are high on the list of Net-Geners’ personal goals. In a January 2007 report from the Pew Research Center, 81% of 18 to 25 year olds polled said that getting rich is their generation’s most, or second most, important life goal; 51% said the same about becoming famous.24 Money, in fact, is by far their biggest problem, with 30% citing financial concerns as their top 25 worry. Net-Geners may earn more than their parents did, but their earnings have less purchasing power. Additionally, many do not have health care coverage and may come into the workplace carrying more educational debt than any previous generation.26 While the Net Generation may view getting rich as their own generation’s top goal, it is not always a top response in workrelated surveys. One of their personal top drivers when job hunting is the need to feel as though they are making a difference, according to both nGenera Insight research and surveys commissioned by the Council for Excellence in Government. Managing in the Net-Gen World (Figure 5.2) will take more time, and perhaps more patience. NetGeners will expect more feedback, more often, both to recognize their accomplishments and to help them move to the next stage in their work project. While they will want flexibility in how they do their work, they also need structured accountability and deadlines. Routine meetings will bore them and the formality, slow speed, and repetitiveness of government bureaucracy, will frustrate them. It will be important to educate them in the reasons for procedures, processes, and the repetitiveness of some tasks. Additionally, expect there to be give-and-take on communications. Older managers will need exposure to the greater efficiencies from text messaging and wiki collaboration, while younger workers will need tutelage on the need for documentation to meet statutory and regulatory requirements as well as verification that they can adequately judge the credibility of online sources of information.27

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In their quest to succeed, Net-Geners will be looking for genuine mentoring. This is a generation that when asked to write about someone they respect, often selects their own parents. They respect the knowledge that others have to share, and while they may overplay their own assets, they do not underplay the skill sets that older generations have. The challenge for coaching this generation will be to know when they need supervision and when they need growing room and to make time to help them improve. Net-Geners are also used to being heard. They will want to share their ideas with senior leaders and decisionmakers. Organizations would do well to determine how to balance protocol and openness to ensure they do not stifle the creativity and energy that the Net Generation will bring to the workplace. At the same time, Net-Geners may need some mentoring on office politics and the chain of command. There is a place for both protocol and openness, but the balance is starting to tilt toward the Net-Geners as organizational hierarchies begin to flatten under the positive weight of collaboration. As the Net Generation is integrated into the workplace, managers and leaders may discover more similarities than differences among all four working generations. Also, “cuspers,” those at the beginning or ending years of a generation, may possess a mix of norms, characteristics and values, based on their upbringing and other influences in their lives. The end goal is to help teammates of different generations find common ground, mutual appreciation, and respect.

Net-Gen World They don’t want to be labeled. They want continuous feedback and recognition. They value genuine mentoring. They want autonomy, responsibility, and challenges. They need structured accountability. They’re not interested in “paying their dues.” They’re used to having their opinions heard. They’re used to group/team problem solving. They expect high tech/constant stimulation. They’re used to living in a 24/7 environment. Figure 5.2 The Net-Gen World

In the 1960s Baby Boomers famously popularized the phrase, “don’t trust anyone over 30.” In general, the Boomers were antiestablishment, and did not want to conform to society’s norms. Trusting anyone over 30 was seen as conforming. I was recently asked, “If the Boomers’ motto was don’t trust anyone over 30, then what is Generation Y’s motto?” Without much thought I blurted out, “Get as many people over 30 in your corner as you can. Learn from them. And do it better.” 28

RYAN HEALY THE BRAZEN CAREERIST BLOG

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opportunities and challenges of a multi-generational workforce In anticipation of the shifting balance among the generations at work, many prominent thought leaders and professional organizations have been examining the dynamics of the workforce of the future. Through generation-focused research from nGenera Insight, Gartner, Forrester, the Society for Human Resource Management and others, the future workforce can be characterized as: •

More diverse, as measured by ethnicity, age, race, religion, family background, sexual orientation, geographic location and global connectivity, language ability, and disability

•

Less immersed in work and desiring more work/life flexibility

• Technologically-savvy and having good collaboration skills The implications of bringing such shifting behaviors and values into the workplace are significant. Transitioning the workplace to a multi-generational work environment is the focus of this chapter.

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GENERATIONAL DIVERSITY Age is no longer strictly a number, but has become a much more complex factor in managing the generation mix. Just as financial experts tout portfolio diversity as a hedge against economic uncertainty, generational diversity is important to sustain stability and stimulate innovation in a multi-functional workplace. As discussed previously in Chapter 2, each generation typically has different turnover patterns which should be managed through targeted workforce planning and cross-development of skill sets. At the same time, each generation is likely to have different work patterns, skill sets, and life experiences. Organizations which focus on inclusiveness and value the qualities and uniqueness of each individual can create an environment that encourages teamwork and innovation. And, perhaps most important, when viewing diversity within a business case structure, diverse teams deliver better results by bringing different perspectives to problem solving.1

GENERATIONALLY SPEAKING - ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS Employees of each generation have their own life experiences that have helped shaped their perceptions as shown in Table 6.1. It is important to be aware of these differences and to understand how the different attitudes and expectations of a multi-generational workforce interplay. Managers who can embrace these differences will be in a better position to connect with employees. The challenge will be understanding, but not stereotyping, the differences.

EMPLOYING CHANGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Adjusting to the changing representation of several generations in the workplace is similar to the processes undertaken to redesign an existing organization, or to the more complex undertaking of blending two workforce cultures together as part of a merger or acquisition. The major difference is the timeline for execution. Federal IT organizations that understand basic change management practices and how to implement them, may be more adept at managing the cultural transition to an effective, multi-generational workplace. Any change in the work environment offers both opportunities and challenges, although inevitably, the people affected by change seem to focus on the challenges. The negative perception of change is true in any business setting, be it government (federal, state and/or local), private industry, not-for-profit enterprises, trade associations, independent consultant services, and so on. Leaders who understand these dynamics

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and take the appropriate management steps are key to the organization successfully adapting to, accomplishing, or implementing change. Ideally, leaders, managers, supervisors, and team leads have already begun to recognize, understand, and adapt to generational changes in the federal IT workforce. The reality, however, is that workforce planners and managers have only recently become aware of the growing diversity among the members of the workforce, and the scope of the changes that its youngest members may bring to workforce attitudes, expectations, and work habits. Effective IT leaders will need to address the changes occurring through: Active and Open Communication - IT leaders must actively and openly communicate with their teams to raise everyone’s awareness of potential workforce friction and workplace environment changes as they develop over time. The primary goal is to inform, address questions, dispel fear, and alleviate concerns that individuals may have; and how they may contribute constructively to change. Increased communication regarding the varying attitudes, expectations and styles each generation may bring to the workplace; how each generation learns and communicates; commonalities and distinctions in how they view and accomplish work; the competencies and experiences each brings to the table; and how the current team members can get involved set the stage to most effectively manage such challenges. Hands-on Execution of Change - It is important to engage all generations during major organizational changes. Each generation brings particular expertise to the table, and also, may assimilate changes differently. Younger, more technically-savvy workers who demonstrate the ability to interject greater efficiency through technological solutions can provide training on these capabilities, while longer-term employees bring extensive corporate knowledge, including culture, process, and statutory/regulatory requirements. Managers must be able to guide/facilitate each change process; be available and open to feedback, questions, and concerns; and aid their team in working through any issues which may arise along the way. Periodic Assessments - Creating an atmosphere and an attitude of inclusion is not a one-time event. Managers will need to remain available to hear about and take action on unhealthy dynamics, to lead periodic team discussions or conduct periodic evaluations of the work environment, and to follow through to resolve situations as they arise.

Age bias, whether toward the old or the young can be very real. Beyond stereotypes and age-related humor are management practices that are not inclusive, and negatively impact workforce performance. Barriers to older workers may include not considering them for potential advancement, not keeping their skill sets current through professional development, and, either not considering them for a job hire to begin with, or not crafting recruitment or retention incentives that speak to their individualized needs. For younger individuals, the concern is that age-based (i.e., years of experience) rigid recruiting requirements can prevent them from being considered for a job, or, if hired, that as “new kids on the block,” they cannot get a seat at the table to get their views heard.

Greatest Generation

Baby Boomers

Gen-X

Millennials or Net-Gen

Age

64–84

45–63

32–44

19–31

Population

75 million

78 million

45 million

80 million

Key Characteristics

Pragmatic Conservative Conformists

Value-driven Priority on Self-actualization

Cynical Media-savvy Individualistic

Tech-savvy & Diverse Media-saturated Fluid Lifestyle

Defining Events

Great Depression World War II Korean War

Berlin Wall Up JFK, MLK, RFK Shot Watergate Vietnam

Berlin Wall Falls Challenger OJ Simpson First Gulf War

Columbine, VA Tech OK City & 9/11 GWOT Corporate Scandals

Key Values

Accountability Tradition Stability

Fulfillment Indulgence Balance Equality

Freedom Reality Self-reliance Work/Life Balance

Diversity Flexibility Empowerment Service-oriented

Table 6.1 Understanding the Generations Through Life-Defining Events

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Pre-Boomer

Boomer

Gen X

Net-Gen

Satisfaction with Employers

85%

74%

77%

79%

Satisfaction with Jobs

76%

71%

70%

74%

Willing to Go the Extra Mile

81%

81%

77%

72%

Pride in Working for Employer

89%

79%

81%

85%

Fairly Compensated

61%

53%

53%

55%

Table 6.2 Generational Satisfaction Levels (Source: Sirota Survey Intelligence as reported in HR Magazine)

THE MATURE WORKFORCE Pre-Boomers are loyal, have seniority, and generally hold positions of authority. Their perspectives were formed by a time of great financial struggle in the Depression and the advent of World War II, which mobilized the entire country, both at home and on the battlefield to work for victory. Boomers grew up during a period of radical change, including racial integration, the Women’s Movement, organized rebellion to war, and impeachment of the President. They know how to pay their dues, compete with cohorts, and struggle through corporate and government downsizing. More mature workers typically prefer more structure in the work environment and are comfortable with directive, chain of command leadership. They also are more likely to understand the big picture and specific agency missions due to their longer association with an organization. They contribute corporate knowledge to all facets of work, including a historical perspective of which policies and corporation actions have worked as well as the rationale for prior decisions. Boomers typically value teamwork. Employee attitude surveys conducted by Sirota Survey Intelligence (specialists in attitude research) in 2006– 2007 support these characterizations of the mature workforce. The surveys found that while stereotypes still exist, increasingly employers understand the value that older workers bring to the workplace. They have significant work experience, organizational and historical knowledge, possess a strong work ethic, and pro2 vide excellent customer service. Survey results also revealed Pre-Boomers have a higher level of satisfaction, pride, and willingness to go the extra mile for their jobs; in addition, of all the generations, “they feel their skills are best utilized and they are best able to understand the larger picture of how their job connects to 3 the overall goals of the company.” Table 6.2 illustrates generational job satisfaction levels.4 Federal agencies would benefit by examining the demographics of their management teams and projecting potential gaps created by their retiring workers.

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For those who intend to leave, mentoring opportunities should be arranged so that more mature workers can share their knowledge and experience before they retire. Additionally, organizations should consider succession planning for high potentials and determine whether their development can be accelerated. For those who might stay on, retention may hinge on looking past prior experience and career aspirations and determining what each individual wants to do and enjoys doing now. Retirement as a concept continues to change. Rather than the sharp drop in productivity and prestige that came with traditional retirement, now retirement may look like gradual downshifting, with meaningful workplace productivity continuing well into the 70s, or a continued ramp up with a second burst of productivity and career growth in another field as described by Ta5 mara Erickson in her book, Retire Retirement. In either case, Boomers will be interested in continued professional development to maintain proficiency or obtain new skills. GENERATION X Gen-Xers grew up as societal free agents, and are very individualistic when compared to the team-centric Net-Geners. They are “the latchkey generation,” the first to typically have two working parents and a 50/50 chance of being from a divorced household, resulting in less childhood supervision. 6 Additionally, because their parents came of age during a time of great social unrest, many do not have strong affiliations to large institutions, whether they are government, academic, religious, corporate, or political in nature.7 During their most formative work years, Gen X has seen extreme hiring and firing trends; first, Boomers getting pink slips in the 1980s as corporate loyalty faded away, then the opportunities presented by the low unemployment years in the 1990s, followed by the dot.com bust and the more recent recession. As a result of so much instability, Gen X constantly monitors organizational climate and career opportunities. They are the ultimate contingency planners, ready to hop to the next job if their job situation sours; many have a backup plan at all times.8

Generational Attitudes Toward Work Pre-Boomers Baby Boomers

Work hard because it’s the right thing to do Work hard because it defines you, and you can make a difference

Generation X

Work hard so then you can play hard

Net Generation

Work hard at work that has meaning

Table 6.3 Defining “Work Values” (Source: Organizational Renewal Associates)

Gen-Xers are flexible and adaptable by nature. Having learned to rely on themselves to land on their feet, in business they can be independent thinkers, willing to break the rules, and possessing a high tolerance for risk; these attributes can serve them well in entrepreneurial roles. 9 Additionally, since they are not typically “joiners,” Gen X may prefer solo projects rather than team assignments. Although their average tenure on a job is three years, they are more likely to stay longer with organizations that tap into their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit by offering them ongoing opportunities to learn and add value to the organization. In size, Generation X is sandwiched between two substantially larger generations. One HR blogger, Kris Dunn, referred to Generation X as the middle child, through a Brady Bunch metaphor: “We are Jan Brady—compliant and serviceable, but never featured on the cover of the brochure. It’s always about Marcia (the Boomers) or Cindy (Gen Y).”10 Yet, managers also need to focus on that middle-child generation, grooming them for increased responsibility, targeting them for recruitment and retention, and valuing their independent nature. NET GENERATION The Net Generation, discussed more in depth in Chapter 5, has witnessed major, inexplicable violent acts such as the high school shootings at Columbine, the more recent killings at Virginia Tech, and workplace bombings in Oklahoma City, the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon. Additionally, they have seen business scandals, such as the corruption at Enron, and the recent implosion of major financial institutions, as significant influencers on their parents. These life-defining events have influenced a “live for today” spirit, which when combined with the longer time they are expected to be in the workforce, allows them to make their 20s a period of great exploration, particularly if they have the security blanket of parental support.11 There is some speculation, by both researchers and Gen X bloggers, that when more of the Net Generation starts having children, their “restlessness” may ease. And, while

some labor studies have predicted the Net Generation will hold many jobs in their life time, more recent studies of this generation imply that they would prefer to work for fewer organizations, but to have more opportunity for growth, with the option for internal lateral or vertical moves.12 WORKPLACE EXPECTATIONS Even with differing life experiences, fundamentally, many individuals in the workplace have similar job desires, no matter what their generation. For the most part, the job needs to be well-paying, with interesting work. It needs to provide them with opportunities for both professional and personal growth, as well as a path for advancement. Leadership within the organization must be supportive, credible and behave with integrity, providing recognition for a job well done. Where expectations differ is in how these desires are prioritized, the balance between work and home life, and the way work is viewed. Table 6.3 provides a description of generational attitudes toward work, which was presented at the Association of Government Accountants’ Sixth Annual National Leadership Confer13 ence in Washington, D.C. Values are different from behaviors, however, and it is the understanding of these behavioral differences that will be of great help to managers. For example, while all generations believe in working hard, the perception of hard work differs. Pre-Boomers are more likely to equate hard work to being physically present, and perhaps even being present long after “normal” work hours are over; this has been referred to colloquially as “butt in chair” or “BIC.”14 Boomers expect significant BIC, combined with other forms of visible presence, including meeting attendance and teamwork activities. On the other hand, neither Gen X nor the Net-Gen link hard work to physical presence in the office. This can understandably cause friction as Net-Geners and Gen X push for more flexibility and balance in the workplace. Federal managers will be challenged to change the current culture and form new measures of accountability and productivity that will satisfy organizational and individual needs.

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management and employee engagement Management studies have shown that corporate culture has a significant impact on organizational productivity. Thus, corporate culture influences not only the Net Generation, but all individuals in an organization. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), in “The Power of Federal Employee Engagement,” echoed many of the same themes discussed in Chapter 5 on creating a positive work experience, applying those themes across the entire federal workforce. The MSPB report focused on six factors which contribute to federal employee engagement (as shown in Table 7.1 on page 50), and highlighted the significant role of the first-line supervisor in employee engagement.1 Managers intent on improving agency performance and productivity need to ensure their first-line supervisors are up to the task of supervising a diverse workforce. This may require retraining or reassigning individuals who have not been given the appropriate tools or who do not possess the necessary attributes and skill sets to excel as supervisors. Equally important, given the expected increasing turnover as more senior individuals retire, it means identifying potential future supervisors or team leads and giving them opportunities to practice and develop these skill sets. The goal is to develop managers with a broad level of self-engagement, who are good at personal interactions, value employee career development and appropriately recognize their achievements. Additionally, organizations need to ensure individuals have the proper workplace tools to succeed, with more flexible work processes. These activities, coupled with continuous methods for feedback and recognition, can foster high individual, workgroup and organizational performance. In December 2009, a final rule was issued in the Federal Register to implement changes to 5 CFR Parts 410 and 412, regarding agency training programs and supervisory, management, and executive level training. These amendments, effective immediately, were spearheaded by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and include requirements for agencies to train new managers in supervisory positions on mentoring, employee development, conducting performance reviews, and dealing with poor performers; periodic training for managers is now also required at least every three years. 2

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Engagement Contributors Pride in One’s Work or Workplace Satisfaction with Leadership Opportunity to Perform Well at Work Satisfaction with the Recognition Received Prospect for Future Personal and Professional Growth Positive Work Environment with Some Focus on Teamwork Table 7.1 What Engages Federal Employees (Source: U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board)

COMMUNICATING THE VISION All organizations can benefit by having a vibrant, visionary workplace. Although most government organizations have a vision statement, fewer live their vision on a daily basis, have communicated it adequately and, of paramount importance to the Net Generation, show current or potential employees how they personally contribute to the vision and mission. nGenera Insight research suggests that the Net Generation responds to “signature experiences” that align corporate values and actions with their own values.3 Thus, organizations whose vision is not authentic, or not easily discernible, may find it harder to recruit, engage and retain NetGeners. In May 2007, the Council for Excellence in Government and the Gallup Organization published a report based on survey and focus group results which explored the attractiveness of federal employment. Among the data was the respondents’ rated awareness of 25 federal organizations and their interest in working at these various federal agencies and organizations. Only 7 of the 25 agencies evoked high awareness or high interest from the respondents. 4 This may be a problem for the federal organizations which evoked low interest and/ or awareness, as they collectively employ over 30%, or 31,000 members of the Major Federal IT Community. More recent research suggests that the timing is

50

right to engage today’s youth in government service. Another May 2008 report by the Council for Excellence in Government stated that while 60% of today’s youth have never been asked to consider working for the government, many would consider it if influencers such as their parents, teachers, peers, or the newly elected President asked it of them. 5 Additionally, government organizations have been appearing on the top ten list 6,7 of ideal employers for college, as show in Table 7.2. Of the government organizations cited in Table 7.2, NASA, the FBI, the CIA and the U.S. Department of State were rated in the May 2007 Council for Excellence in Government report as very interesting places to work, with NASA, CIA and Department of Justice also scoring high in awareness of agency mission. (The Peace Corps and Teach for America were not part of the 2007 survey on government employment). It is interesting to note the lack of government organizations in the 2009 top ten list of ideal employers; this may indicate a downshift in federal employment awareness activities. As organizations look to increase awareness and engagement, their own website can be a good starting point. Government websites are often not enticing visually; they can be cumbersome to navigate; and few make a strong, conscious attempt to connect to the viewer, provide a sense of “corporate culture,” or to tie their workforce to the mission. That can be a problem, since most likely, that website will be a Net-Gener’s first and, perhaps, last impression of the organization. And should there be information that a Net-Gener wanted to bookmark or share, appropriate information sharing technology tools are often either rudimentary or noticeably absent. CIO organizations should be keenly aware that their agency’s website, as well as their use of current social media, are really, in a sense, their own calling card to the Net Generation IT workforce on whether their agency is an interesting place to work and how technology is being used within the organization. Some of the more savvy organizations in industry and government are now creating a “brand” for themselves as well as establishing a presence on social networking sites. Activities may include posting job applications, but for many organizations these sites also provide an opportunity to create organizational awareness among the passive job seekers. Since passive job seekers are the vast majority of the talent pool, this can be an effective marketing tool, if properly managed; only a small percentage of the labor market is actively seeking a job on the major job market sites at any given time.

2007

2008

2009

1.

Google

1.

Google

1.

Ernst & Young

2.

Walt Disney

2.

Walt Disney

2.

Google

3.

Apple

3.

Apple

3.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

4.

U.S. Department of State

4.

Ernest & Young

4.

Walt Disney

5.

Peace Corps

5.

U.S. Department of State

5.

Deloitte

6.

CIA

6.

Goldman Sachs

6.

KPMG

7.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

7.

Deloitte

7.

Apple

8.

Microsoft

8.

Peace Corps

8.

J.P. Morgan

9.

FBI

9.

NASA

9.

Goldman Sachs

10. Teach for America

10. PricewaterhouseCoopers

10. Nike

Table 7.2 College Senior List of Ideal Employers (Source: Universum Communications)

JOB FIT

ENHANCING THE HIRING PROCESS

Matching the right person to a real job requires work, however, a good person-to-job fit can improve employee engagement, decrease turnover, and improve overall agency productivity when the individual is wellsuited to perform the job. Agencies need to identify the competencies, types of work assignments, and team roles to be performed and whether they should recruit to specialized technical skills, to generalist capabilities, or to hire “versatilists,” a term Gartner, a leading research and advisory firm, uses to describe individuals with deep skills as well as a broad scope of job roles and experience.8 They also need be able to identify the level of experience, skills, and capabilities required, and as mentioned previously in Chapter 3, to realize the costs, tradeoffs, and attainability of those requirements when in a tight labor market. Finally, government agencies, in particular, need to examine their position descriptions and to write them with a level of simplification and clarity that make them understandable not only by agency insiders, but also Human Resources (HR) specialists and potential job applicants outside of government.

The federal hiring process is imbued with challenges to overcome and continues to be cited in numerous publications as a potential obstacle to attracting talent for federal employment. The Partnership for Public Service detailed many of these issues in two 2008 reports: “Road to Reform, A Management Framework for the Next Administration,” and “Elevating Our Federal Workforce; Chief Human Capital Officers Offer Advice to President Obama.” And, OPM continues its work to improve the process.

While a Net-Gener may not currently have the depth of skills and experience to be a versatilist, the concept of developing into one could be very appealing to this generation. It appeals to their desire to master more than one skill set and not be pigeon-holed into a narrow, pre-defined career. Additionally, the desire and trend for having employees with both IT and business skills is becoming more prevalent within the CIO community.

Rather than concentrate on large scale systems and processes that could require significant retooling across government, CIO organizations should focus on two areas where they can have impact: the relationship they have with the HR community and their own role in the hiring process. Creating a strong partnership with HR can help in determining strategies on job marketing, compensation and the best use of hiring flexibilities, including, but not limited to, those discussed in Chapter 10. Additionally, HR is a partner in qualifying candidates for interviewing. Getting to the interview stage, and conducting meaningful interviews, are where an agency can go astray by taking too long to identify candidates for interview, not creating a structured interview process or by allowing unskilled individuals to conduct the interview. Interviewing is a skill worth honing, particularly with the Net Generation.

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During the interview/hire process, interviewers should clarify the mission, functions, and tasks of the organization, and the specific duties and responsibilities the applicant would be expected to fulfill. Ideally, they are providing the type of information that might help aspiring applicants understand what a “day-in-the-life” of the job may be, and how their role would fit into the bigger picture. While interviewers should be assessing how the individual may fit the organization, they must also allow ample time to answer questions the individual may have. The MSPB recommends using a structured interview process and work sample assessments to create a best fit between potential applicants and an agency.9 Behavior-based interviews, which can provide insight on desired soft skill requirements, can be targeted to address areas such as judgment, decisiveness, flexibility, negotiation, risk taking, values and ethics, problem solving skills, interpersonal relationships, and people management, whereas open-ended questions, asked of all applicants, are tied to specific desired behaviors, with benchmarked responses. While it takes time to develop the questions and train the interviewers, behavioral interviewing, which is based on actual past performance rather than hypothetical situations, has been found to be significantly more effective at predicting on-the-job performance. 10 ON-BOARDING NEW EMPLOYEES Both the hiring and on-boarding processes should be designed to provide the right start to new employees of all generations, including bringing them into an agency’s culture as quickly as possible. Near term, a positive experience will form the basis of the employees’ full integration into the multi-generational workplace. Longer term, it will provide new employees the tools they need for success, and potentially influence their future retention as well. The on-boarding process has to balance among the necessary, but mundane activities such as administrative paperwork, credentialing and security and more complex activities such as individual sponsorship (a concept the U.S. military uses by assigning each newly reporting individual a sponsor from the command) and socializing employees to the workplace by introducing them to the incumbent staff, touring the office spaces, and showing them the ropes. Ideally, equipment issue and work area setup will have been performed before the new employee’s arrival since encountering problems with technology integral to job performance can be a turnoff to any generation. The on-boarding process should be conducted in an order and timeframe deemed most beneficial to provide information on policies and programs;

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individual/team roles and responsibilities; organization strategy, charter, mission, and goals; and management philosophy and standards. The challenge is to meld necessary content with context, particularly for the new Net-Geners in the workplace, but also for any new employee. Individuals need to understand how the work gets done, where to go to get help, who it is important to meet and how each individual will inform their social network. Early focus on acculturation can harness the enthusiasm of typical Net-Geners, who are keen to get started right away to make an impact and to be recognized for their contributions. Managers will play a key role in integrating the new employee into the organization. They should be comfortable discussing their expectations of the employee and should be equally comfortable asking the employee what his or her expectations of the job are. This give-and-take is important to Net-Geners. It is also important to realize that the timeframe to expect full productivity from employees can be several months. This is a critical time to ensure that Net-Gen employees are receiving frequent feedback on their performance and that they are, in fact, forming the networks that can help them optimize their performance. Finally, understanding that both processes and people form the basis of a successful on-boarding program, organizations should take a hard look at their current procedures, and the individuals who typically carry out the on-boarding processes and conduct periodic reviews to ensure the on-boarding experience is fresh and relevant. Areas to scrutinize include: •

Does each new employee get a quality introduction to the organization?

•

Do new employees get one-on-one conversations with key staff personnel?

•

Do employees understand the agency mission and their role in fulfilling that mission?

•

Are employees made to feel as though they are valued and their career goals supported and attainable?

•

Is the program customizable to meet individual needs?

•

Does someone track completion of the onboarding process and get feedback on how the agency can improve it?

•

Is the program structured to fulfill its objectives?

In May 2008, the Partnership for Public Service published an excellent guide, “Getting On Board: A Model for Integrating and Engaging New Employees,” which

The primary shift in managing the Net Generation is the move away from a generic set of people management practices to ones that are more user-focused and individually-customizable. Expectations of authentic relationships between employees and employers create pressure on leaders to demonstrate care and concern for particular employees. This new management reality requires leaders who interact differently with each employee, and work hard to understand young people’s personal aspirations and preferences, strengths and weaknesses, and informational needs. To lead the Net Generation effectively, managers will need to assume the roles of coach, educator, delegator, knowledge broker, resource allocator, and advocate. 11

LISA CHEN AND IAN DA SILVA “ARCHITECTING THE FUTURE: NET GEN CAREER AND TALENT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES”

can be found at www.ourpublicservice.org. This report includes an on-boarding toolkit for managers and a model for the first year’s activities with a new employee. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT The availability of professional development and career management support is a key factor in employees’ engagement, and ultimately, their retention. This is particularly true for both the Net Generation and Generation X. Chapter 8 is dedicated to these topics, providing more information on job experiences, coaching/mentoring and formal learning. MANAGING PERFORMANCE Federal managers and supervisors have a responsibility and an obligation to manage the performance of their employees. Although all federal agencies have performance management processes in place to guide them, these are not always well executed. It could be fair to say that some managers, whose personnel population is skewed to older, longer term employees, have been able to put their performance management practices on auto-pilot. This must change. Net-Geners entering the federal workplace will want more tangible feedback on what is expected of them, how they are performing, and how their performance is linked to their pay.12

For the Net Generation, the frequency of the feedback is also very important. During a 2008 nGenera Insight survey of over two thousand individuals in North America, respondents were asked how frequently they desired feedback from their managers. Figure 8.2 (page 54) illustrates that the younger the individuals, the more frequently they wanted manager input on their performance.13 This has two-fold implications for employee supervisors or team leaders: more training may be required for managers on performance management techniques, and managing employees will take more time. Managers who utilize a variety of leadership styles with employees will be better equipped to manage in a multigenerational performance management environment. This includes consciously taking time to understand what is important to each generation, and particularly, to take time with individuals to appreciate their personal and professional experiences, background, motivators, goals and needs. All of this information can be used to develop an adaptive performance management style which will enable a manager to draw on the strengths of each generation represented on the team when assigning individual or team tasks and projects.

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Net Generation

Generation X

Boomers

Do Not Need Feedback

10%

Annually

8%

Quarterly

19%

Monthly

24%

Daily or Weekly

39%

Do Not Need Feedback

15%

Annually

11%

Quarterly

23%

Monthly

23%

Daily or Weekly

30%

Do Not Need Feedback

23%

Annually

14%

Quarterly

17%

Monthly

21%

Daily or Weekly

25%

Figure 7.2 Desired Feedback Frequency from Managers (Source: 2008 nGenera Insight Survey)

RECOGNITION Since the Net Generation expects frequent and timely feedback on job performance, organizations will need to become more adaptive, relying much less on formal, scheduled semi-annual performance reviews and the once-a-year, cash award performance recognition model that is so often employed. Creating a more dynamic and personalized awards system will resonate with the Net Generation. Getting to know them and what they value will require more awareness and communication within an organization, while actually involving them in the creative process of restructuring an agency’s award program could yield unexpected innovativeness. Within the more traditional federal award opportunities, the three discussed below may warrant increased utilization to recognize Net Generation accomplishments.

TIME-OFF AWARDS Using an Individual Time-Off Award for personal work accomplishments, or a Group Time-Off Award for collaborative work, can be a viable way to increase NetGeners’ personal, paid time away from the job and provide positive, tangible recognition to a generation of workers who thrive on performance feedback. The Time-Off Award program is highly flexible. Agencies are empowered to determine administration details including the approval authority, the number of days which can be awarded, and the timeframe for award utilization. Additionally, a Time-Off Award can be combined with other types of awards. A cash bonus

54

of $100 and a day off could be part of an informal quarterly recognition system which easily could be administered within an organization. Use of the Time-Off program accounted for 19% of annual performance awards conferred by the Federal 14 Government in FY2007. The average federal Individual Time-Off Award in FY2007 was slightly more than two days (17.7 hours) in length. 15 The Department of the Treasury had the highest average award at 34.3 hours, and the Social Security Administration had the lowest average at 2.3 hours. Among the Federal CIO Council members, the Department of the Air Force had the highest usage rate and the U.S. Department of State and General Services Administration had the lowest usage rates. Group awards, another option, accounted for less than 20% of time-off awards, with an average award of 9.5 hours. 16 This could change as the more collaborative, team-oriented Net Generation enters the workforce in greater numbers. Appendix E contains aggregate Agency Time-Off award usage for FY2007, the latest data reported by OPM.

SUGGESTION/INVENTION AWARDS The Net Generation thrives on innovation and collaboration and will be positively motivated by managers who listen to their suggestions. Creating an innovative culture starts from the top, down, requiring a supportive physical and technological work environment, an embracement of risk management, and the systematic recognition of results. Only 40% of respondents to the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey felt that innovation and creativity were rewarded in their organization.17

Their viewpoint is supported by annual award data. In FY2007, less than 0.3 % of all annual federal awards were given for suggestions or inventions, either individual or group-initiated. The average award was $406, and the Department of Defense awarded 75% of all awards.18 Federal Chief Information Officers, tasked to implement the Web 2.0 wave of technological innovation, should embrace this award category and ensure their voice is heard when agency awards budgets are created. Over $1.5 billion was awarded in individual and group performance cash awards in FY2007 versus $2.3 million for suggestions and inventions.19

VOLUNTEERISM - OPPORTUNITIES AND RECOGNITION The Net Generation was raised to value service time given in support of a local, regional, or national effort. Many were first introduced to this concept as a school or scouting compulsory project, and then continued to volunteer on their own time. Their predisposition for volunteering and desire to give back can be accommodated with their work schedule by allowing individuals to participate in an alternative work schedule or to schedule time off for volunteer activities (as discussed at www.opm.gov). Recognition of volunteerism can be done within an agency award program (cash awards are discouraged by OPM) or through the President’s Volunteer Service Award program (www.presidentialserviceawards.gov). There are four categories of presidential awards based on the number of service hours performed and a bronze award, the lowest award category, requires only 100 or more hours of service. Using this program requires commitment from the federal agency to become a verifying organization and commitment from the individual to track volunteer hours accumulated.

OTHER RECOGNITION OPPORTUNITIES Organizations have the opportunity to get creative as they build a multi-faceted award program. Awards/ incentives could include: •

A professional development quota valued by the individual

•

A unique mentoring opportunity, such as a scheduled office call with a senior manager of the employee’s choosing

•

An in-house, peer recognition program

•

A congratulatory letter or certificate presented by senior management

•

A framed artifact from a special project

•

Nomination for federal or industry-level recognition programs

•

Supportive career transition training

•

Administrative time for early release on a special occasion

•

Media recognition of individual professional accomplishments

Agencies should also look externally for other federal, industry, and professional recognition opportunities as they seek creative ways to tailor awards to individual needs and interests.

RETAINING THE NET GENERATION While it holds true for all generations, improving management and employee engagement is particularly important to retaining the Net Generation. If agencies do not create effective talent management programs that engage their employees, they are at risk for churn at both ends of the generational spectrum. Not only will they face the impending Baby Boomer retirements, but they will also face more rapid turnover among the younger workforce.

Rather than shut them down, employers should put N-Geners in charge of resolving the technical, legal and cultural obstacles that currently inhibit Web 2.0 adoption. These new collaboration tools have enabled tremendous innovation on the public Internet, and properly supported and secured collaboration tools can also foster greater innovation, agility, and cross departmental collaboration in the public sector. 20

ANTHONY D. WILLIAMS AND ALEXANDER TAPSCOTT “GOV 2.0 WIKINOMICS AND GOVERNMENT DEMOCRACY”

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professional development and career management Aside from the Net Generation’s arrival to the IT workforce, new work processes, development methods, and changes in technology are pressuring traditional workforce development approaches to change. For the IT workforce, optimally, in order to keep pace with a dynamic, technology-driven environment, learning must take place throughout an employee’s working life. The Net Generation understands and embraces this model, while preceding work generations, those traditionally responsible for employee development, may still view work and learning as distinctly separate. These different viewpoints can cause friction between Net-Geners (who view on-the-job training (OJT) as integral to their jobs) and seasoned employees (who may view training as overhead with unquantifiable value to the organization). Although the Net Generation values one-on-one time and OJT, they also desire a clear, structured means for professional development and career management.1 CIO organizations should create a professional development strategy for employees, establishing baseline skills and knowledge requirements, developmental methods, and opportunities designed to expand skills and knowledge. The challenge for organizations will be to provide a formal, yet customizable process for professional development and career management that not only aligns to the organization’s IT workforce vision but also satisfies the needs of both Net-Geners and more-experienced employees.

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Leadership and Management

Creativity and Innovation External Awareness Flexibility Resilience Strategic Thinking Vision Conflict Management Leveraging Diversity Developing Others Team Building Accountability Customer Service Decisiveness Entrepreneurship Problem Solving Technical Credibility Financial Management Technology Management Partnering Political Savvy Influencing Negotiating

Technical

Common Technical Competencies Subject Matter Expertise

Fundamental

Interpersonal Skills Oral Communication Public Service Motivation Integrity and Honesty Written Communications Continual Learning

Table 8.1 Competency Building Blocks for the Net Generation

COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT Each federal employee is expected to achieve high performance in a number of personal and professional competencies. Table 8.1 displays the major building blocks in these competencies. There are fundamental competencies of benefit to all, the technical competencies associated with the individual’s career field and particular job, and leadership and management competencies developed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as part of the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs). The ECQs define those competencies needed to “build a federal corporate culture that drives for results, serves customers, and builds successful teams and coalitions within and outside 2 the organization.” There are five OPM ECQs: leading change, leading people, producing results, possessing business acumen and building coalitions. 3 While the level of ECQ development will deepen as individuals mature within the federal workplace, it is wise to begin

58

consciously developing the next generation for new leadership roles as early as possible. This training may be particularly attractive to Net-Geners who are eager to make an impact. Training, education and development opportunities that align to the ECQs can be included in employees’ Individual Development Plans (IDPs) as career-broadening opportunities and would be part of the employee’s long-term development options.

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN Working together, the supervisor and the Net-Gen employee should collaborate on an Individual Development Plan for the employee. The “wired” nature of the Net-Gen employee suggests that development programs for them should leverage technology and be varied in manner of presentation.4 For the Net Generation, it will be normal to learn on the job as they work.5 Additionally, they may increasingly learn job functions 6 through the use of simulation. A good IDP should address all aspects of an individual’s developmental needs and feature education, training, and work-based experiences. It should be flexible and adaptable over time, and should include opportunities to develop functional occupational, technical, business and leadership competencies. In the short term, the focus should be on training that supports the Net-Gener’s ability to acclimate to the agency and federal culture and on the skills necessary to complete his or her work responsibilities. This may include some fundamental training for those new to the working world in areas such as manners, social skills, professional dress, IT etiquette, and basic communications skills.7,8 Additionally, there may be a need for leadership to clarify workplace expectations. This can pay off since NetGeners are good at following rules as long as they understand the rationale.9 To build the IDP, the supervisor might ask the following questions of their Net-Geners, which were adapted from the Department of the Navy’s “Civilian Career Path Guide for Management of Technology, Information, and Knowledge Workers”: •

What are you very good at and what do you enjoy doing?

•

In your current position, which types of assignments do you most enjoy?

•

What do you envision as your career path? What is your ultimate goal? What milestones do you see along the way?

•

What education, courses, and/or training will help move you toward your vision and goals?

• How do you like to learn new skills? And, because with the Net Generation, the supervisor becomes a partner in the achievement of the goals, another question to ask would be “And how can I help you achieve these goals?” The answers to these questions will help shape the scope of the IDP, and the education and training opportunities contained within. For members of the 2210 community, an additional tool exists to help identify both general and technical competency recommendations by IT Specialist parenthetical titles, enabling users to build personal career progression plans for needed competencies. This tool, the IT Roadmap, is sponsored by the Federal CIO Council and located at http://itroadmap.usalearning.gov.

TRAINING THROUGH WORK-BASED EXPERIENCES Agencies will want to use a mixture of training tools, applying different technologies where they fit best to create an integrated, flexible learning experience to handle the Net-Geners’ need for personalization. In a recent survey of the Net Generation by nGenera Insight, OJT ranked highest as the preferred method of job training, while pure lectures ranked close-to-last, as shown in Figure 8.2. These figures further validate the value that the Net Generation places on customizable, real-time activities. 10 In addition to using OJT within the organization to learn aspects of one’s current job, there are other “hands-on”

On-the-Job Training

71%

One-on-One Training

55%

Peer Mentoring

39%

Written Materials

35%

Group Activities

33%

Online Materials

30%

Online Classes

25%

Lectures

21%

Video

19%

Video Games

8.5%

None of These

7%

training opportunities for Net-Gen employees through internal rotational programs to broaden organizational knowledge and skills and external developmental details that may be used to develop a cross-agency perspective. Both types of developmental details are typically 3 to 12 months in duration and usually occur when the individual is at least a GS-11 or equivalent. To be fully effective, the expectations of the rotational assignment or developmental detail and the responsibilities of both supervisors and participants must be clearly articulated in writing.

Gartner, a leading IT research and advisory firm, states that as part of each organization’s effort to build bench strength performance, managers should provide IT employees with “OJT, the opportunity to work with new technologies and information, involvement in leading innovation, exposure to business and senior leaders, and the opportunity to work closely with other IT functions.” 11

Figure 8.2 Net-Gen View of Which Activites Provide Most Effective Training for Their Job (Source: 2008 nGenera Insight Survey)

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Mentor Benefits 1.

Renews their enthusiasm for the role of expert.

2.

Provides better understanding of barriers experiences by more junior individuals.

3.

Enhances skills in coaching, counseling, listening, and modeling.

4.

Provides practice in a more personal style of leadership.

5.

Enables them to demonstrate expertise and share knowledge.

6.

Increases generational awareness.

Protege Benefits 1.

Enhances professional development.

2.

Increases career networks and receives greater agency exposure.

3.

Gains capacity to translate values and strategies into productive actions.

4.

Develops new or different perspectives.

5.

Obtains assistance with ideas.

6.

Solidifies strengths and explores potential.

Table 8.2 Benefits of Traditional Mentoring (Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

MENTORING Mentoring provides another opportunity for one-onone training for the Net Generation through more personal, relationship-building activity. Participating in a traditional mentoring relationship, which usually entails a senior person mentoring a junior, can greatly benefit both parties, as shown in Table 8.2.12 A more non-traditional mentoring relationship is developed in reverse mentoring, where a junior mentors a senior. This type of mentoring can be quite effective and is gaining in awareness as the Net Generation enters the workforce. Many of them possess greater IT knowledge and can outperform more senior generations in IT skills. Creating opportunities for them to share this knowledge within an agency can provide significant benefit to the organization and allows them to showcase their proficiency. OPM published a guide on mentoring best practices in September 2008. This guide, which serves as a comprehensive source for establishing a new mentoring program or improving a current program, and lists resources for mentoring, can be found at www.opm.gov.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS As organizations build their professional development programs, and customize them to meet Net-Geners’ desires and occupational requirements, traditional methods of education and training may augmented

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with the non-traditional. In addition to formal training experiences, this generation may want to attend a virtual or physical conference, download webinars, or shadow a senior manager. Managers will need to work with their Net-Geners to craft training opportunities that meet everyone’s needs. Federal competitive development programs provide opportunities that may be attractive to the Net Generation. These include scholarship programs that lead to degrees, as well as government-sponsored courses and/or certificate programs. Typically such programs are centrally-funded at the federal or agency level, and acceptance into them is earned through a competitive application process. Examples include: •

CIO University

•

National Defense University’s Information Resources Management College

•

OPM Regional Management Development Centers

•

Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service

•

DoD SMART and Information Assurance Scholarship Programs

Agencies may also have their own competitive programs tailored to meet specific organizational requirements. Methods to fund training opportunities are included in Chapter 10.

DEVELOPING TOMORROW’S TEAM LEADERS Web 2.0 technology is providing new tools that can foster collaboration, but developing effective team/ project leaders is equally important. The challenge is to find individuals who excel at both task-oriented work and building relationships, and who can employ these skills with large groups whose team members may be geographically separated and previously unknown to each other. According to research conducted by Lynda Gratton and Tamara Erickson in “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams,” the level of complexity associated with collaborative team tasks is based on the presence of several factors, and any two of them can cause a task to be labeled as complex. These factors include the size of the group, and whether input and agreement is required from 20 or more people; whether the group was formed specifically to complete the task; if the task requires skills outside the group or specialized input from individuals outside the group; the level of pressure associated with achieving the team’s end result; the level of uncertainty of events associated to the task; whether success is dependent on understanding the requirements of individuals not in the group; as well as whether the team members are located in two or more geographical areas.13 As government organizations develop their leadership succession plans, providing prospective future team

leaders with both leadership and project management training will be useful. Another factor influencing potential success will be the previous experience individuals have in collaborative and leadership positions. Traditionally, potential leadership indicators for young entrants to the workforce have included such factors as whether or not they had ever captained a team sport or held an authoritative position in student government. With today’s Net-Geners and Gen X, in addition to querying them about school activities, another question to ask may be whether or not they are computer gamers. For those who are not gamers, the analogy may be hard to follow. Many Boomers might view gaming as a solitary effort between person and machine, with no applicability to leadership aptitude. Those individuals have not been dedicated participants in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), where a particular computer game, played collaboratively by large groups of individuals who may have never met, continually evolves over time. nGenera Insight and others have researched the skills such players can bring to the workforce as a result of their “virtual training.” For serious gamers, who work their way up through the game hierarchy, there are strong skill parallels between managing complex team projects in the workplace and those required to excel as an MMORPG gamer, including strategic planning, resource management, risk management, personnel management, communications, relationship building, and collaboration.14,15

…I’ve been gaming since freshman year in high school. I’m now maxed out, a level 40 at Warhammer. There are about 120 in my guild, which makes it mid-size…I’m the youngest; most are late 20s to 40s. Right now, I’m Vice President, the number 2 person…sure, it definitely builds leadership skills…Being successful at this game means getting to know people, getting to know who they are. We’ve got players from all over…a lot of West Coasters, a lot of Canadians, a Romanian…four married couples playing together. You’re working with people in your own guild, but you’re also building alliances with other guilds to get information you need to make strategic decisions. You have to have connections. You need to be able to consolidate sources of information, get the word out to others…I may be talking to 10 people at a time, texting, emailing, phoning…There’s a lot of complex coordination involved.... ...My company’s name? No, don’t use it. I think we’re about to pull the plug… we wanted to help companies revision themselves, redesigning their websites, logos, business cards. Great idea…at least I think so…yeah, definitely bad timing with the economy…also, I just started college...probably won’t be gaming much either. 16

ALEX WERRELL, 18, MMORPG GAMER, NET-GEN ENTREPRENEUR, YALE ‘13 61

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shaping the workplace through web 2.0 technologies Web 2.0 has ushered in a new era of rapidly expanding content and information sharing capabilities. The collaborative capability achievable today through information technology has the potential to drive scientific discovery, innovation, and the financial bottom line in both the public and private sectors. Over time, Web 2.0 technologies will dramatically change the way organizations work internally and how they interact with their external customer base. The Net Generation understands intuitively the power of Web 2.0. They are the first cohort of young people to have been immersed in an interactive, hyper-stimulating, digital environment since birth, having “grown up digitally.” Sometimes referred to as “digital natives,” a term first coined by Marc Prensky in 2001, this generation has used technology for education and entertainment since they were toddlers and, as they got older, began virtually hanging out in cyberspace.1 The Internet is the nexus that allows them to surf news headlines, query search engines, download music, trade photos, play out elaborate gamer scenarios, collaborate on school projects, IM (instant message), and befriend a large community of peers through social networking sites. Notebooks, netbooks, cell phones, smartphones, and MP3 players are some of the Net-Geners’ personal accessories used to provide both a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose. While today’s Baby Boomers may get frustrated when Internet connectivity drops, the deprivation of connectivity to the Internet has a visceral impact on the Net Generation.

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THE LONGE DAY In “The Longest Day,” an essay in The Washington Post’s Sunday magazine, Dr. Danna Walker, a professor at American University, chronicled the results of an academic assignment which required her undergraduate students to go 24 hours without electronic connectivity—no internet, no TV, no radio, no music players. The anxiousness captured by her student echoes similar work in a qualitative study done by nGenera Insight where Net-Geners, when given a scenario which stripped them of all communication devices, largely considered themselves “paralyzed and disconnected from the world.” 2

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EST

“There was a moment in my day when I felt homeless, I couldn’t go home because I knew that would be too tempting. I couldn’t be with my friends because that would be too tempting. I had just eaten, so I couldn’t just sit in a restaurant all day. I was walking down the street literally with nowhere to go, and I just didn’t know what I was going to do.” 3

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The continuous online engagement so completely embraced by the Net Generation is starting to permeate across all facets of daily life for all generations. Within Government, the call for greater transparency of information and greater functionality of citizen services will fundamentally change the way the Government does business externally. The challenge will be to also transform the way each federal organization functions internally, including how they recruit new employees and serve current employees, how they deploy technology and who gets first access to new technology, and finally, how they govern the use of social media in the workplace.

THE VALUE PROPOSITION FOR WEB 2.0 SOCIAL MEDIA Social media has the ability to expand network circles from people with strong ties to an individual (family, close friends, and immediate co-workers) to individuals which sociologist Mark Granovetter refers to as “weak ties,” who have less immediate affiliation, but have the potential for rich collaboration. 4 Researchers have demonstrated that innovation is largely a learned behavior.5 Therefore, fostering capabilities which can stimulate learning and sharing, has the possibility to enhance creativity and problem-solving abilities. Hal Gregersen, a noted professor and author specializing in leading strategic change, states that the larger and more diverse the circle of contacts, the better, since meeting individuals from different industries and organizations, with different levels of expertise, creates more potential for innovation. 6 The Net Generation already understands the importance of networking. Research from nGenera Insight, highlighted in Figure 9.1, demonstrates that they have a larger professional network than other generational counterparts.7 About one third of the people in their professional network are outside of their organization and they are more likely than the Gen X and Boomers to say that their network includes individuals whom they rarely see in person. 8

Net Generation

69

Generation X

44

Boomers

57

Males

46

Females

66

Figure 9.1 Number of People in Your Professional Network (Source: 2008 nGenera Insight Survey)

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THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S USE OF WEB 2.0 SOCIAL MEDIA Many agencies are significantly increasing their use of Web 2.0 social media applications to help do the work of the Government both internally and externally with customers. New applications are continually evolving as both individuals and agencies see the payback from Web 2.0 technologies. Examples of agency use of social media include: Blogs and Micro-blogs - Robert Carey, the CIO for the Department of Navy was one of the first government officials and the first federal CIO, to have a public blog. When Carey, a reservist, was deployed to Iraq he saw young warfighters using these Web applications and saw their potential in the workplace. Carey has been an advocate of Web 2.0 technologies and uses them to solicit ideas and connect with Navy personnel. Several CIOs within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have also launched blogs in the last year to encourage employees to use this emerging technology as a way to share information and solicit feedback. Many federal agencies are also using blogs to improve transparency and interaction with customers. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) launched a blog in January 2008 as way to provide its flying customers a window on TSA policy formulation and to solicit feedback on its procedures. The Department of Defense leadership uses a blog to discuss the future of the Military Health System, and the U.S. National Archives has launched NARAtions to discuss the future of online public access to national records. A detailed listing of blogs created by federal agencies can be found at www.usa.gov. Wikis - Wikis are being used across the Government as digital meeting places where federal users can share information, create, and collaborate. The extensive search capabilities of these tools allow users to retrieve information regardless of the wiki organization. Additionally, these tools allow people to collaborate on documents much more efficiently than emailing revised versions of documents as attachments. The software is simpler to use because it features both groupware and word processing programs. Version control becomes much simpler as well, enabling the ability to quickly locate the latest document version, with all changes attributed to the proper author. Intellipedia, a highly successful wiki, is used by the federal intelligence community (IC) and has resulted in increased collaboration and knowledge sharing across 16 IC agencies and other security-related Departments. The DoD has also launched a wiki called DoDTechipe-

dia to improve collaboration on technological solutions among agency scientists, engineers, acquisition workers and operational warfighters. At a federal-wide level, the Office of Management and Budget’s wiki at max.gov has been used not only to streamline routine budget processes and facilitate federal budgeting efficiencies, but also to enable federal collaboration throughout a variety of communities. Most recently, the Smithsonian Institution creatied a public facing wiki at http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com to invite public collaboration to transform the organization’s digital presence on the Web.

fense, some defense organizations allow instant messaging to be available to their employees so they can have quick chats and collaborate with their colleagues.

Mashups - Currently, most mashups using federal government data are being created by organizations outside of government. As more government data becomes available, the use of mashups is expected to increase, creating greater transparency and innovative uses of federally available data.

Social Networking Sites - The popularity of social networking sites has grown exponentially throughout the world. It is not surprising that young government employees are often leading the way in using them within their federal agency. Steve Ressler, a former IT specialist at the Department of Homeland Security, founded Young Government Leaders (YGL), a group formed to educate, inspire, and transform current and future leaders of the Federal Government. He created the YGL website and its Facebook and LinkedIn groups, and also launched GovLoop.com, a social networking site for government employees to connect and collaborate. In its first year online, GovLoop attracted almost 15,000 members and has since grown another 10,000 in membership.

Virtual Worlds - Some agencies are exploring the use of a simulated 3-D virtual world where individuals use avatars to collaborate, learn or entertain, and interact with others. Examples of how the Federal Government has used virtual worlds are: 1) information delivery (NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Air Force and Army); 2) education and training (Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Army, Marines, and Air Force); 3) meetings and events (Information Resources Management College, DHS, and the U.S. Department of State); and 4) rapid prototyping (U.S. Navy).

The first wave of government organizations using Facebook included the Central Intelligence Agency and the Internal Revenue Service, while some organizations like NASA-Goddard Space Flight, have launched their own social networking tools. NASA’s tool, SpaceBook, has a broad of capabilities, allowing each Goddard employee the ability to find subject matter experts, form online groups with whom to share files and create wikis, and even locate or dispose of surplus gear. The use of social networking sites by government entities will increase as agencies determine appropriate applications for them and provide employees guidance on site usage.

The Information Resources Management College at the National Defense University has hosted several conferences in a virtual world, which has allowed people to connect from all over the world. NASA’s virtual CoLab (a web-based collaborative environment) is a dedicated “island” in the virtual world, Second Life, and was established to foster collaboration between NASA and individuals who support the space program. Other federal organizations are using virtual world technology to train internally or to shape consumer behavior. The U.S. Army has used virtual world technology with America’s Army, a 3-D video game used for recruiting and training that allows participants to engage in military maneuvers. The CDC educated the public about the flu by releasing a virtual influenza virus at a virtual children’s party to demonstrate the importance of getting vaccinated. Subsequently, more than 20,000 individuals were vaccinated in a six-week period. Text Messaging/Instant Messaging - Instant messaging or IM, can increase the speed of communication in the workplace by circumventing the formality and structured handling of email. At the Department of De-

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES The Federal Government has made significant advancements but still faces several challenges when it comes to the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies. By nature, the Government does not quickly adapt to new tools, particularly when it comes to incorporating new technologies in the workplace. Although the role of IT managers is to figure out how to provide those technologies for employees, a larger governance group may be used to develop guidance on their usage, including legal, privacy, public relations, and human resources specialists. The Social Media Subcouncil, operating under the Federal Web Managers Council, and comprised of federal, state, and local government web managers, maintains an excellent wiki with best practices and a wide array of published policies on social media use. Additionally, they can be found blogging on GovLoop.com. Record retention is another challenge for agencies, as many Web 2.0 tools do not lend themselves to easy archiving of data. Security issues also rank as a top

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concern, and many security challenges will need to be resolved as these technologies are adopted federalwide. Some government agencies have found it necessary to limit or prohibit connectivity to nongovernmental channels based on the grounds of security. While there are legitimate concerns about data protection, organizations must find solutions that protect their IT systems while simultaneously allowing consumers full access to emerging social media technologies. Beyond the legal and security concerns, are the more practical issues involved with successful implementation of new media within an organization. Many of these can be addressed by understanding the function each type of social media might play. Andrew McAfee, a researcher, writer, and teacher about technology’s impact on the business world, suggests that wikis may work best for organizations with strong ties that are intent on producing a collaborative product; blogs can help cultivate potential new ties; and social networking sites may be best suited to cultivating weak tie relationships to facilitate innovation. 9 Further, depending on the organization, the right answer might be to not build a community. If an organization does not have leadership support, or does not have the time and talent necessary to devote to the tending of relationships generated through social media, the project is ripe for failure. 10 The U.S. Department of State, which is embracing a wide variety of social media to foster diplomacy abroad, noted in a case study on digital diplomacy that it was essential to provide both technical and professional training to individuals charged with representing the organization online; that outside experts in social media can be helpful in crafting the message to be conveyed and the social engagement desired; and that governance policies on information dissemination (and how creatively it can be conveyed) should be developed. 11

WEB 2.0 WORKPLACE AND BEYOND The transformation of the workplace is just beginning. The power of transactional sites such as Amazon and eBay, the search engine capabilities of Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Bing, and the explosion in social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, have revolutionized the lives of private consumers. It is not beyond the Government to accomplish the same capabilities within the public sector. Creating a workplace that fully utilizes Net Generation talents can be a first step to the future. The workplace of the future will be radically different from today’s preconceived workplace that involves hard-wired equipment, multiple cubicles, and 9 to 5 workdays. The future promises more flexibility, more mobility, and more independence, while at the same

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time, helping employers to get the most out of every employee. Web 2.0 tools are already helping to create a seamless work environment where employees can easily transition from one task to another without having to move from one tool to another. Additionally, they will create a level of transparency that affords employees an opportunity to view the work of others and makes employees more accountable. Changing technology will allow this future workplace to become a reality sooner than most people realize. Many companies are already using virtual teleconferences, virtual worlds, and other technologies to quickly connect employees from all over the globe, allowing employees to work together with their peers in real time, while being in different locations. Eventually, holograms could be used to allow employees in different locations to chat face-to-face. Even the offices themselves will be modified. As people shift towards working from home, conference rooms may eventually outnumber cubicles in the office, serving as meeting grounds for employees as needed. The future workplace has often been seen as a dream working environment, offering maximum freedom, where employers allow their employees to choose when, where, and how they work. More than most, the Net Generation sees this workplace not as a dream, but as a goal, fully realizable. As they continue to expand their presence in the workplace, expect many more changes within the federal IT workforce.

Social media challenges some of the fundamental paradigms organizations have about control in terms of message content, how and where it spreads, and the outcomes of those actions. By design, with social media the messenger’s voice can’t be easily controlled or predicted. Consequently the challenge in adopting social media for many organizations is more cultural than operational. 12

DR. MARGARET SCHWEER AND RICHARD LAUF “THE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA MINDSET: ORGANIZATIONAL PRINCIPLES AND GOVERNANCE PROCESSES”

69

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workforce compensation, benefits, and flexibilities Creating an attractive compensation and benefits environment can be challenging. It requires good marketing and the ability to deliver the goods marketed. Additionally, it requires knowledge of the job market and the ability to maneuver within a complex, bureaucratic compensation system that is continually changing. While federal agencies have an array of flexibilities that can be used in the recruitment and retention of Net Generation individuals, most organizations do not use them in a wide scale, strategic application. A major factor is often a lack of funding, as cited in both 2007 and 2008 surveys of federal Chief Human Capital Officers.1,2 This lack of resources, coupled with a lack of systematic planning and targeted application within most agencies, dilutes the effectiveness of these federal-wide flexibilities. The list of flexibilities contained in this Chapter is not meant to be all-inclusive, but to highlight those flexibilities that may be particularly attractive to the Net-Gen. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) continues to work on new flexibilities to address the Federal Government’s recruiting, retention, and professional development requirements.

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BASIC SALARY EXPECTATIONS In the 18th Annual Survey of Federal CIOs, conducted by the Information Technology Association of America, CIOs expressed their concern regarding their ability to offer competitive pay and benefits.3 There is merit to this concern. Although 4 of the 5 series in the Major Federal IT Community have special salary rates for personnel under the General Schedule, their value has been eroding over time as locality pay increases cause these rates to outstrip the special salary rates. Hiring managers should compare the two rates for their geographical area and where needed, determine the feasibility of offering new Net-Gen hires with exceptional credentials an increased salary step when market conditions warrant it. Additionally, when possible, managers might create laddered positions for new hires.

TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE BENEFITS Money does matter to the Net Generation and being net-savvy they can, through a combination of surfing official sites and mining social networking capabilities, determine quite accurately the salaries being paid for individuals in their work field. Where they may fall short is in estimating their worth to a company, particularly as a new entrant to the workforce. Human Resource managers have stated that the youngest generation may have unrealistic expectations of starting salaries. In January 2009 the Partnership for Public Service and Universum reported a $7,000 gap between students’ anticipated starting salary in the Federal Government and the 2008 4 starting range for a GS-7. Federal employee salaries, while often lower than their private industry counterparts’, are only one part of the employment compensation package. The Partnership for Public Service recommends that organizations should discuss both agency benefits and federal-wide 5 service benefits (summarized in Table 10.1). Further, they should understand that their audience in the benefits discussion is not only the prospective Net-Gen applicant, but may be the applicant’s parents as well. In a 2008 nGenera Insight survey, 24% of Net-Geners said that their parents’ advice was critical when deciding to accept a job offer.6 Parents were also involved in their finding their first job after college. as show in Figure 7 10.1. As benefits are discussed, it would be important to remember that the Net Generation wants customizable options. Thus, different benefits and opportunities may appeal to each applicant. In a survey conducted by the

Gallup Organization for the Council on Excellence in Government, 52% of Net-Geners (aged 18 to 29) said the best motivators for them to consider a job in public service would be opportunities for growth and advancement based on performance; 41% were very interested in having a flexible schedule and telework opportunities; 27% were interested in enrollment in a student loan repayment program; and 26% were interested in access to continuing education. 8

RECRUITMENT AUTHORITIES Recruitment Bonuses - Agencies may pay recruitment bonuses to newly appointed federal employees in hardto-fill positions in exchange for a signed service agreement. The amount of the bonus may range up to 25% of the new employee’s annual rate of pay (or more, with OPM approval), multiplied by the number of years in the agreed service period (which can range between 6 months to 4 years). Payment of the bonus can be in a lump sum, phased installment or other installment plan, as designated by the agency. Organizations must have a pre-established recruitment incentive plan in order to offer a bonus. In FY2007, 5,658 GS federal employees received recruitment bonuses; over half of the recipients were GS-9 or below. 9 Appendix G provides a breakdown of IT workforce recruitment bonus payments by Federal CIO Council membership. Direct-Hire Authority - Direct-hire authority is designed to provide agencies flexibility to recruit individuals for career-conditional appointments to positions in shortage or critical shortage occupations. In 2003, OPM authorized federal-wide direct hire for the 2210 series IT Specialists, GS-9 and above, in Information Security. Individuals recruited to this specialty area may be appointed to positions without regard to the requirements in title 5 USC 3309 through 3318. Fellowships, Scholarships, and Similar Programs Authorities - The fellowships, scholarships, and similar programs authority at 5 CFR 213.3102(r) provides an excepted service appointing authority for filling positions from limited applicant pools under hiring and operating procedures established between a federal agency and a non-federal organization. Although appointments are time-limited (cannot exceed four years) with no conversion privilege to the competitive service, this authority allows agencies to: •

Bring in individuals with specialized knowledge or expertise under agency-developed exchange programs with the private sector.

* Survey participants were asked to select which two motivators would make them most interested in a public service job.

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Net Generation

Not Very/At All Involved 49% Somewhat Involved 23% Extremely/Very Involved 28%

Figure 10.1 Parental Involvement in Finding First Job After Finishing Education (Source: 2008 nGenera Insight Survey)

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Provide a means for individuals to meet a service obligation under specific programs authorized in statute.

FEDERAL SERVICE BENEFITS •

Addressing national issues

Provide students insight and the opportunity to apply their particular field of study to real-world situations. Agencies may use this authority to support internship or fellowship programs that provide developmental or professional experiences to individuals who have completed their formal education.

INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING WORK

Safeguarding critical information and IT infrastructure Collaboration with private industry, professional organizations and other governmental organizations Insight into how government works Meaningful public service •

GUARANTEED RIGHT TO ELIGIBLE BENEFITS

Establish training and associate programs to increase the pool of qualified candidates in a particular occupational specialty.

Transportation subsidies

Design professional/industry exchange programs that provide cross-fertilization between the agency and the private sector to foster mutual understanding and exchange of ideas and/or to bring experienced practitioners to the agency.

401K Plan

Extensive health care and insurance benefits Ample vacation/sick leave

•

Federal IT jobs nation-wide and overseas Significant opportunity for advancement and professional growth

Arrange residency programs through which participants gain experience in the federal environment. Participate in programs that require a period of government service in exchange for educational, financial, or other assistance such as the Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service program.

Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) - The SCEP allows appointment of students to positions that are related to their academic field of study. Employment as a student is in the excepted service and public notice is not required. Participants who meet all the requirements of the program may be noncompetitively converted to term, career, or career-conditional appointments. SCEP can be used as a tool to grow the IT workforce by hiring students into developmental positions to address future agency needs. To participate in SCEP, a student must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a degree-seeking student in an accredited high school; technical or vocational school; 2-year or 4-year college or university; or graduate or professional school. All students must be at least 16 years old.

FEDERAL-WIDE JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Experience valued: on average, transferring employees within the federal IT community make more money than new hires Personnel details may be available to other agencies •

FEDERAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Professional journals, Communities of Interest, other publications Conferences and webinars Associations

•

AND MORE Job security Flexible work arrangements Student loan forgiveness after 10 years of employment

Table 10.1 Federal Benefits to Discuss with Prospective Employees (Source: Partnership for Public Service)

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Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP) - The FCIP is designed to help agencies recruit exceptional individuals into a variety of occupations at the GS-5, 7, and 9 grade levels. Agencies can strategically target entry-level positions and create a pipeline of talent that ultimately leads to a journey-level position in the agency.

•

The MDA used FCIP when faced with a large cohort of senior GS-14/15s who were retirementeligible as well as a lack of entry-level people in its workforce. High-demand occupations such as engineers and accountants were targeted at schools that would produce the best candidates. In addition, MDA used career fairs, the National Association of Colleges and Employees (NACE), and Call to Serve* as ways to get exposure for its mission and hiring requirements. MDA focused on finding the right fit by making sure the job details were clear, conducting thorough interviews, and assessing behavioral as well as technical competencies.

•

In 2003, the Department of the Army used the FCIP authority to implement an AKL program to attract high-achievement university graduates to serve as Army IT civilians. The AKL is an ongoing, structured 2-year program, with four cycles of leadership training and developmental assignments at different Army, defense, or other federal locations. The AKL interns learn leadership, business management and IT skills while developing a robust peer network, and receiving career ladder promotions ranging from GS-7 to GS-12 during their internship period.

Individuals are appointed to a two-year internship that provides formal training and developmental assignments as established by the agency. Upon successful completion of the program, interns may be eligible for non-competitive permanent placement within the agency. Individuals with diverse professional experiences, academic backgrounds, and/or relevant skills are eligible for the FCIP. The program is not restricted to students and career intern appointments may be made at any time during the year. Many agencies use the FCIP to identify suitable candidates for their agencies, including the General Services Administration (GSA), Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) who have highly successful FCIP initiatives. Additionally, several federal agencies have independently established structured development programs including the Emerging Leaders Program at the Department of Health and Human Services; the Professional Development Program at the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Army Knowledge Leaders (AKL) program at the Department of the Army. •

GSA in Kansas City, Missouri, has been using FCIP to fill positions at the GS-5, 7, and 9 levels in numerous fields since 2002. An Individual Development Plan is prepared for each intern who works with a panel to ensure that the intern meets specific professional goals.

•

FCIP has been used successfully at the SSA in its recruitment of Claims Representatives. Applicants are identified through other external recruitment initiatives such as job fairs, community outreach activities, or paid advertising. SSA has found that liberal arts graduates do very well at most entrylevel positions and attributes its success in building a large and diverse workforce to a balanced and targeted use of the hiring authorities available. Additionally, it establishes relationships with students and college staff, maintaining strong oncampus relationships.

Presidential Management Fellowships - The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program (or similar type program) has been in existence for over 20 years. In recent years, the program has expanded in scope to enable graduate level students in all academic disciplines to apply for a fellowship within the Federal Government. This program can be an outstanding method to attract new Net-Gen talent to IT policy management positions within the Federal Government at the GS-9 to GS-12 (or equivalent) levels. Each year, OPM prescreens all PMF applicants, selects the finalists, and prequalifies them for at least a GS-9 position. Although finalists are available for hire throughout the year, OPM also sponsors an annual job fair in Washington, D.C. each spring where agencies can meet multiple candidates. Agencies using the PMF program hire suitable fellowship candidates for a two-year period during which they complete Individual Development Plans that include both formalized training and developmental and rotational assignments. Successful participants may later be converted to permanent full-time employment within the participating agency.

* Call to Serve is a national initiative created by the Partnership for Public Service to educate a new generation about the importance of a strong civil service, to help re-establish links between federal agencies and campuses, and to provide students with information about the opportunities that Federal employment provides.

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Federal Scholarship Programs - The Federal Government has several scholarship programs suitable for recruiting and retaining IT personnel. These programs provide academic funding in exchange for government service. These include: •

•

Federal Cyber Service: Scholarship for Service (SFS) – The SFS is a federal-wide scholarship program, co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). NSF funds the final two years of undergraduate, master’s-level or doctorate-level study in information assurance (IA) academic programs at select colleges and universities throughout the United States. Scholarship recipients must perform a two-year payback at an interested federal organization. Agencies interested in hiring SFS interns or graduating students can attend the annual job fair held each January in Washington, D.C., where approximately 100 individuals are available for hire as IT professionals. Information Assurance Scholarship Program (IASP) – The IASP is used to increase the number of individuals in DoD who possess key IA and IT skill sets. It serves as a mechanism to build the nation’s IA infrastructure through grants to colleges and universities jointly designated by the National Security Agency and DHS as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education or Research, and to develop and retain well-educated military and civilian personnel who support the Department’s critical IA and IT management and infrastructure protection requirements. This program serves active duty military, DoD civilians, and non-DoD students, all of whom incur a service payback in exchange for academic scholarships in IA disciplines.

•

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/1890 National Scholars Program – Each year USDA provides full four-year scholarships to high school students to attend any of the 17 Historically Black 1890 Land Grant Institutions or Tuskegee University. Scholars must major in agriculture-related fields, food or natural sciences, or other applied disciplines such as computer science, pre-veterinary medicine, or biological sciences. Thirty-six or more scholarships are awarded annually and graduates perform payback service with USDA for each year of financial support.

FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM Paying down educational debt in return for an employment commitment can be a viable way to attract the Net Generation to certain career fields. Currently, there are five major occupational avenues individuals can pursue that have student loan repayment recruitment benefits: teachers, national volunteer programs such as the Peace Corps and VISTA, health professions, military service, or working as a civilian employee for the Federal Government. At a Net Generation conference in February 2008 hosted by New Paradigm, pay and benefits specialists speculated that a new trend in private industry student loan repayment programs might develop as the business world begins to compete for Net Generation workers.

During 2007-2008, graduates amassed an average educational debt of $23,186 for undergraduate degrees 10

and $40,297 for graduate degrees. Almost two-thirds of undergraduates and over half of grad school graduates incur educational debt, and the debt burden does 11

•

Science, Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) – The SMART Scholarship for Service Program was established by DoD to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working in DoD laboratories. This program is open to current DoD employees and non-DoD students. All recipients incur a service payback in exchange for full scholarships.

not end there. Unlike when the Baby Boomers went to college, Net-Geners have had more ready access to consumer credit. According to Anya Kamenetz, author of “Generation Debt,” Nellie Mae reported that in 2004, in addition to incurring student loan debt, undergraduates carried at least $2,100 in credit card debt while graduate students had an average of al12

most $8,000 in debt. Student credit card debt should decline over time, as a result of recent credit reform legislation.

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The current federal tool, which is very flexible, allows agencies to tailor the program to meet individual needs: •

The maximum annual payment is $10,000 with a 6-year maximum offering.

•

The minimum payback period is 3 years of federal service and an agency can specify a longer required payback period.

•

The student loan repayment program can be used as a recruitment or retention incentive and also may be offered in conjunction with recruitment, retention, or relocation bonuses.

•

There are no mandatory academic program criteria and students are not required to have completed a degree or certificate/certification to be eligible.

•

The program may be tailored to a specific occupation/skill.

Federal agencies provided student loan repayment benefits to 6,879 employees in calendar year 2008, 13 with an average annual loan of almost $7,511. Departments and agencies who are members of the Federal CIO Council provided loan repayment benefits to 88% of total federal benefit recipients; however, only 6% of those recipients were members of the Major Federal IT Community. Appendix G provides a breakdown of IT workforce loan repayment benefits by Federal CIO Council membership.

ADDITIONAL ANNUAL LEAVE FOR NEW EMPLOYEES The majority of Net Generation individuals hired by federal agencies will be new to the Government and may also be new to a structured work environment if they have recently completed an academic degree. Unless these individuals are authorized to participate in an alternative work schedule, their potential for paid days off is limited to 10 structured federal holidays and 13 individual vacation days annually for the first three years of their employment. Increasing annual leave accrual as a recruitment incentive or authorizing time-off as a performance award (discussed in Chapter 7) provides opportunities for additional hours off from work.

members, with a particularly strong employment record, have valuable work experience and may be recruited into hard-to-fill or mission critical positions within the Federal Government. Those who are newly-appointed civilian employees, or have had a 90-calendar day break in federal service, can be eligible for a higher annual leave accrual rate based on previous years of work experience, including active duty uniformed service. Use of this authority requires documenting the length and nature of the claimed creditable service and approval by an agency‘s authorizing official. All written documentation must be approved prior to the individual’s effective entry on duty.

RETENTION FLEXIBILITIES Retaining a Net Generation employee may be more challenging than retaining the older generations as these individuals are still exploring their work identity and their passion for work. Compensation, particularly paying for performance, will be a factor, but the work environment (Chapter 7), professional development opportunities (Chapter 8) and work/life balance (Chapter 11) will factor into Net-Gener decisions as well. nGenera Insight, after studying Net-Gen behavior and stated career goals, has likened Baby Boomer career patterns to the game of Shoots and Ladders, where players go up or down, and Net-Gen career ideas to a Rubik’s Cube, with endless combinations. 14 Rather than create a lockstep retention strategy, organizations should become comfortable in tailoring retention opportunities to meet individual and agency needs. Part of the retention strategy might include an employee enrichment program which allows Net-Gen employees to team on different projects. Another aspect might include designing a program that facilitates moving employees sideways through the organization. Such a program can pay off by retaining individuals in the organization, while not necessarily in the same job. Many retention flexibilities are tied to professional development/educational programs. The two defense scholarships previously cited, IASP and SMART, and the federal student loan repayment program can also be used as retention incentives. Additionally, several other academic opportunities exist, as described on the next page. Agencies using such programs may require a service payback. Information on all of these authorities may be found at www.opm.gov.

The oldest members of the Net Generation have now crested age 30. Those older members, or even younger

* The OPM Report does not identify how many individuals received this benefit as a retention incentive or as a recruitment incentive, or how many of the 6,879 individuals were new recipients vice prior year awardees.

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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS Payment for Job-Related Academic Degrees - Agencies may pay for or reimburse employees for the cost of academic degree training when it meets certain criteria: •

The training must contribute to meeting a specific agency training or staffing need, or to accomplishing agency strategic goals.

•

The training must be part of a planned, systemic and coordinated organizational employee development program which links to accomplishing the agency’s strategic goals.

•

The academic program must be through an accredited college or university in accordance with U.S. Department of Education accreditation requirements.

Payment for Professional Credentialing - Agencies may pay expenses for employees to obtain professional credentials. This includes expenses for professional accreditation, state-imposed or professional licenses, professional certifications, as well as the examinations to obtain the credentials. This flexibility may be particularly attractive for IT employees and agencies, both of whom can benefit from IT systems and security credentialing programs. Academic Incentive Programs - Some agencies have developed programs which offer a retention incentive for individuals who complete certain educational endeavors. Two examples are provided by the U.S. Department of State and the Defense Information Systems Agency. The Department of State has an IT Skills Incentive Program which pays qualified IT employees with specific skill codes or in certain IT positions 10% or 15% of their basic pay based on attainment of specific professional IT credentials. The Defense Information Systems Agency pays an incentive of $1,000 to $3,000 for

approved professional credentialing aligned to DISA’s mission and the employee’s IDP, and $1,000 to $5,000 for attainment of academic degrees which meet similar mission and IDP criteria. Both programs require a minimum 2-year service agreement. Shared Cost Academic Programs - Agencies can establish shared cost programs through full or partial tuition reimbursement programs or other shared cost arrangement. The flexibility of when to attend training and how to pay for it may appeal to the Net Generation. Some possible program variations are shown in Table 15 10.2. Training and Education Unrelated to an Employee’s Official Duties - The Net Generation sees value in pursuing multiple interests and careers. Agencies can support this desire for additional skill development by allowing employees time off to take classes not specifically related to their official duties. The academic studies may not significantly interfere with normal work accomplishment and must enable the employee to work more effectively within the organization.

RETENTION BONUSES Agencies may pay individual or group retention incentives based on unique qualifications and critical need. Individual retention incentives may not exceed 25% of an employee’s rate of basic pay and group or category retention incentives may not exceed 10% of the employee’s rate of basic pay, although higher awards may be allowed with OPM approval. Awards may be paid in installments or a single lump sum after completion of the required period of service. Within the GS schedule, retention bonuses are more typically paid to GS-10 and above; only 42% of federal recipients in calendar year 2007 were GS-9 or below.16 Appendix G provides a breakdown of IT workforce retention bonus payments by Federal CIO Council membership.

Paying Training Costs

Training On Duty/Off Duty Hours

Agency Pays the Costs of Training.

Employee Attends During Duty/Non-Duty Hours.

Agency Pays Some of the Training Costs, Employee Pays the Balance.

Employee Attends During Duty/Non-Duty Hours.

Employee Pays All the Training Costs.

Employee Attends During Duty Hours.

Employee Pays All the Training Costs, Agency Reimburses Part or All of Costs When Course is Successfully Completed.

Employee Attends During Duty/Non-Duty Hours.

Table 10.2 Agency/Employee Shared Training Cost Examples (Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management)

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work and life balance Research has consistently shown that the Net-Geners seek flexibility and a balance between their personal and professional life. Rather than “work/life balance,” Net-Geners see the world as needing “life/work balance.” They do not simply define themselves by where they work and what they do; that is just part of who they are.1 They tend to cultivate interests in many areas and their life roles are changing as well, with household responsibilities being more equally divided the genders.2 Work is also becoming less compartmentalized. As discussed in Chapters 5 and 10, the lines between work and non-work activity are becoming blurred. This has import on the Net-Geners’ need to have a work environment that is engaging, collaborative, and fun.

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Net Generation

50%

Generation X

38%

Boomers

27%

Males

31%

Females

42%

Figure 11.1 Criticality of Flexible Work Hours to Accepting a Job (Source: 2008 nGenera Insight Survey)

FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS In a recent survey conducted by nGenera Insight, half of the Net Generation respondents felt that the availability of flexible work hours was critical when deciding 3 to accept a job offer, as shown in Figure 11.1. Although this generation may be the most vocal about work/life balance, other workers are feeling an increased need for flexibility and work/life balance as well. The increased number of women in the workplace has driven the need for more flexibility for family requirements. According to HR Review, almost two thirds of families with preschool children have mothers working outside the home; if a child is sick, most often it is the 4 mother who is called at the workplace. There is also a growing demand for flexibility from employees needing time to take care of their own parents, as well as those sandwiched caretakers with generational care responsibilities at both ends of the spectrum. The Labor Project for Working Families conducted a survey in 2002 and found that 40% of family members caring for their parents and grandparents also had child-care responsibilities.5 Taken to its extreme, flexible work hours would mean allowing Net-Geners (and others) to take complete charge of their own work schedule, working wherever and whenever, as long as they delivered high quality results on time. While private industry is taking experimental steps in this direction, less than half of private companies currently offer any type of flexible work schedules. Thus, the Federal Government, with its authority to offer flexible schedules and telework, can be competitive in this work/life area. Currently, the Federal Government has four flexible work programs: •

Flexible Work Schedules - Allows the employees to have a set work week, however, the reporting and departing times could fluctuate day-to-day.

•

Compressed Work Schedules - Allows working a schedule which consists of less than 10 workdays per pay period. Generally, the employee would work 9 or 10 hours a day.

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In 2005, Best Buy instituted an innovative work process that allowed employees at its corporate headquarters to work without a formal work schedule. The results, as studied by the University of Minnesota Flexible Work and Well Being Center, included improved workfamily interface, improved health practices (more sleep, exercise, and energy), a greater intention to stay with the company and more job satisfaction. 6 Best Buy itself noted that productivity among participants increased by 7 more than 30%.

•

Flexitour - Allows employees to schedule specific work hours based upon their personal circumstances.

•

Credit Hours - Used in lieu of paying overtime and more so used as compensatory time.

The application of these flexibilities may vary from agency to agency, but those who allow flexible schedules can enhance their organization’s attractiveness to prospective Net-Gen employees. Additionally, although some opportunity may exist for job sharing in individual agencies, the focus of this guide is on the full-time Net-Gen employees. Agencies should not underestimate the value of flexible work schedules to new government employees. As shown in Figure 11.2, working a compressed schedule potentially triples the paid time off a Net-Gen employee, new to government service, can earn.

FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE Based upon improvements in technology and the digitalization of the work environment, employees no longer need to be physically situated in a traditional office during core working hours. Technology devices such as cellular phones, blackberries and other wireless devices allow employees the ability to work anywhere and anytime. While no one expects government employees will be authorized to text their work in from the ski slopes any time soon, even teleworking, the most structured version of a flexible workplace, has not caught on as much as it should within the Federal Government. In its most recent report to Congress on teleworking, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) reported that for 2007, the number of federal teleworkers as a whole was down (with some of the decline attributed to better data collection and some due to the Department of Defense’s continued wartime support and security concerns).8 Only 8% of eligible personnel were teleworking across the Federal Government.9 The top three barriers to telework cited by agencies were office coverage, management resistance, and organizational culture. 10

Less than 3 Years in Govt

Federal Holidays Sick leave Vacation Days Alt. Work Schedule

10 13 13 26

3 to